SALT 05

Chapter: 05

Human’s Enemy (2)

“Whoo… whoo….”

After a brief moment of silence, I finally exhaled the rough breath I had been holding in.

Compared to its overwhelming presence, its death was meaningless—but when did meaningful deaths even exist in the first place?

They were living beings too, so if their heads were cut off, they died all the same. The only difference was that I had succeeded first.

Ding!

New messages appeared one after another.

[You have completed the linked quest.]

[As a reward, you have obtained 100 hours of survival time.]

I dismissed the notification that seemed no different from the others, but it wasn’t over yet—new messages kept appearing.

[You have completed the raid.]

「[Contribution Ranking]

I Minjun 80%

Jeong Sohee 17%

Kwon Daehee 2%

Lee Junyoung 1%」

[Rewards will be distributed according to contribution.]

[You have obtained a ‘Normal-grade Weapon Exchange Ticket’ as a reward.]

[By eliminating the giant larva, you have looted 30 hours of survival time.]

[You are the first in this area to successfully clear the giant larva raid.]

[You have obtained the title ‘Nemesis of Larvae’!]

[As an achievement reward, Strength, Agility, and Stamina levels have each increased by 1.]

Only after confirming that the linked quest to move to a safe zone had also been completed could I infer that the larva attacks toward this area had ended.

‘Haa… finally, I can breathe a little.’

I roughly closed the final notification window and slumped down onto the ground, catching my breath.

From the ground level, through Jamsil Station Exit 7, all the way to Exit 6 where I was now—I had been running nonstop without proper rest.

I had to stay constantly alert, never knowing when the larvae would rush in, and in the final battle against the giant larva, I had to exert every ounce of strength I had just to avoid dying.

For now, rewards and everything else could wait—I just wanted to rest.

It all felt unreal… so many things had happened in such a short time that not only my body, but my fragmented mind needed time to recover as well.

“Our brave citizen has defeated the monster! As your servant, Songpa’s son, I, Lee Gidong, will not overlook this matter under any circumstances, and I will bring this before the assembly to ensure proper recognition and compensation for both merit and damages!”

But, as always—

the world wouldn’t leave me alone.

Somehow having been hiding nearby, a congressman appeared in perfect condition, grabbed my arm, and lifted it up while shouting to the crowd.

At his abrupt speech, the majority of civilians who had been avoiding combat and staying cautious began applauding in response.

“Soon, the chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, whom we contacted via satellite phone, will come to rescue us. Until then, trust me, Lee Gidong, and follow the control measures! Then we will surely overcome this crisis!”

‘Ah… so that’s it.’

The reason the people who had formed the defensive line earlier had tolerated Lee Gidong’s unpleasant behavior.

It was because his claim of having contacted the police via satellite phone made it seem to everyone that the government, military, and police were still functioning properly—and that help was on the way.

It was absurd.

‘Wait… could it be that the message didn’t appear to everyone?’

With a slight doubt, I checked the wrists of the other civilians.

But as expected, they all had numerical tattoos on their wrists—which meant they had all seen the message.

‘They’re escaping reality.’

They were choosing to look at a sweet illusion to avoid the bitter truth.

In a way, it was both pitiful and frustrating.

The military and police would not come. Even if they did, if the monsters weren’t eliminated within 100 hours, everyone would die.

To survive, they had to wake up from this false dream.

‘This isn’t for them—it’s for me.’

At the very least, I wanted to try persuading them once, so I wouldn’t be consumed by guilt later.

I didn’t want to douse their hopeful expressions with cold water, but thanks to the congressman beside me drawing attention, everyone was already looking at me.

I chose to play the villain.

“Since I’m already up here, may I say a few words?”

At my sudden move, the congressman seemed momentarily flustered inside, but as expected of a politician, he showed no sign of it and instead responded with a confident expression.

“Of course! You’ve saved all of us. Please share a few words that can give us hope!”

“…Most of you will probably die in four days.”

“….”

Those cold words declaring their imminent death instantly froze the atmosphere.

“You may not understand what I’m saying right now… but you all see the unfamiliar tattoos on your left wrists, right? …From what I’ve gathered so far, those represent the time you can exist in this world—in other words, your remaining lifespan.”

“Th-that… what are you talking about! Ha… haha! Our hero is making quite the joke. Hahaha.”

The congressman tried to laugh it off, dismissing my words as a joke. But I stared straight at him and spoke calmly.

“Sir, you probably didn’t take the subway and evacuated from the surface, correct? Then you must have seen it clearly. The meteor that fell from space, the ‘one-eyed’ beings that filled the sky, and how many people those insect creatures slaughtered.”

“T-that was because our proud military forces….”

“Did you not see the message that appeared before your eyes? Even if the military eradicates those creatures and comes to rescue us, if the time on our wrists runs out, we will die.”

They had seen the system messages and the swarming larvae—so why couldn’t they believe the survival time?

I turned away from the congressman and looked at the civilians again.

“Haa… judging by your clean clothing, I understand that many of you didn’t witness the strange scenes on the surface. So it may not feel real to you. In fact, even I still find it hard to believe.”

I exhaled my frustration and continued.

“You’ve all received the ‘tutorial quest.’ The message that told you to either kill insects to earn time or kill people to earn time—that one.”

I raised my left arm and showed them my wrist.

There, clearly written in black, was the number 488.

“All of you—no, at least everyone in Seoul—is a ‘terminal patient.’ Buy weapons from the ‘Space Market’ the system mentioned. Use them to kill the insects and complete your quests. If you just wait here thinking it’s safe, all that awaits you is death… Please face reality and seize your own lives.”

After finishing my words, I turned around.

The surroundings fell silent.

In truth, those final words were also meant for myself.

Originally, I was someone with only a one-year lifespan anyway. Thinking about it, this situation was actually advantageous for me.

The more I struggled and seized opportunities, the more time I could live. It meant I could improve my own limited lifespan.

Ding!

At that moment, as I resolved myself, a new system window appeared before my eyes.

「[Main Quest – (1)]

Difficulty: D

Clear Condition: You, who are now mentally prepared to live in a new world.

Fulfill the following conditions to gain minimum qualification:

① Total Ability Level (15/30)

② Survival Time Collected (488/5000)

Time Limit: Unlimited

Reward:
① Title ‘Minimum Qualification’
② Increase in Space Market membership rank

Failure: None」

‘Hah… what is this now….’

Looking at the newly appeared quest, the fatigue I had been suppressing washed over me once again.

I could check the details later.

I immediately closed the quest window and looked ahead.

In any case, I had done my best to persuade them without shame.

Now, the choice was theirs.

‘….’

Leaving behind the frozen congressman, his aides, secretaries, and the crowd, Minjun began walking toward the shopping mall of Golden Apartment.

Golden Apartment restroom.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A man dressed neatly in a suit vented his frustration by pounding the restroom mirror with his fist.

“Damn it! That bastard!”

In the shattered mirror fragments streaked with blood, the man brushed back his disheveled hair.

Lee Gidong’s face twisted like a demon.

“How dare that young bastard throw dirt on the table I, Lee Gidong, set?!”

For a moment, the whites of his eyes turned red—but in the broken mirror, his eyes returned to white as if nothing had happened.

He pulled out toilet tissues and wiped the blood-soaked fist.

“The kind of guy who, when danger comes, will only care about his own survival. Acting like he knows everything, acting righteous, acting like he’s helping people! Haa….”

They had clearly been fish that could all fit in one tank.

But then some young bastard showed up and interfered, causing half of the fish he had already gathered to escape.

“It’s fine… it’s fine. In the big picture, it’s just a minor issue. I still managed to catch some. No problem.”

Lee Gidong straightened his messy hair and steadied his breath. Then, as if by habit, he checked his left wrist.

‘Even the one who took down that giant monster has less time than me….’

“Hmm? Wait. 716?”

Sensing something odd, he muttered “quest window,” and something appeared before his eyes.

「[Sub Quest – Assassination]

Difficulty: F

Clear Condition: Kill someone without being discovered.

① Number of kills (5/10)

Time Limit: 24 hours

Reward: Normal-grade assassination dagger, all ability stats increase by Lv.1

Failure: Death

Tip) There are additional benefits for exceeding the clear conditions.」

“Huh? What’s this? Why is one missing?”

Lee Gidong turned around. The restroom floor was covered in blood.

Step. Step.

He walked slowly through the sticky pool of blood and opened the final stall.

Inside were six corpses tangled together. Lee Gidong pulled a jackknife from his pocket and began stabbing their necks one by one again.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Thud!

As he stabbed another corpse, when he struck an old man’s neck, warm blood that hadn’t yet gone cold gushed out.

“Oh? So you were pretending to be dead? You’ve already lived long enough—why cling so desperately to life?”

Lee Gidong repeatedly tore into the old man’s body with the cold blade.

Ten cuts, twenty cuts.

By the time there was hardly a single intact part left on the old man’s body—

his motionless form collapsed, and the blood pouring from his wounds formed a stream, flowing like a river toward the afterlife.

“Alright, time to go hunt the remaining fish.”

The congressman who had chosen human hunting wiped the blood off his knife with a handkerchief and grinned.