As the mirror space shattered completely, the black-eyed version of Ivan looked up at those colossal shadows in pure terror.
In an instant, his body cracked apart like cheap porcelain and vanished into nothing right in front of Ivan.
Those towering shadows weren't some infection-born hallucination. They were Ivan's real, deepest desires, the ones he used as a weapon to crush anything weaker.
"Desire really is a bottomless fucking abyss…" Ivan muttered.
He had lost the growth potential of the Gluttony talent, but he didn't feel like he'd lost out. The battle had sharpened his will nicely. In the end, the body was just meat. Power without control was worthless, no different from a leaf floating on water. At least that's how Ivan saw it.
...
When Ivan finally returned to Green Home, Lee Eun-hyuk was already in the security room holding the intercom mic.
"Attention all residents. Please gather food, medicine, and weapons and come down to the first floor. It's safe here for now. Staying together will improve our chances of survival. We need to stick together if we want to live."
While he was speaking, Cha Jin-ok—the kindergarten principal who had delivered the rotten fish earlier—was trying to open the main gate. Her only remaining desire was finding her daughter who was still outside. That was all she had left.
"Look outside! There are no monsters now. Maybe they die when the sun comes up," Cha Jin-ok tried to convince everyone.
But the horror from two days ago was still burned into their minds. A few people considered leaving with her, but most were against it.
"Please open the door. I'll find my daughter and come right back," she begged, tears streaming down her face. Some residents started to waver.
Before they could decide, Cha Jin-ok ran into the security office and slammed the roll gate switch.
She started clearing the obstacles blocking the door. People tried to stop her, but she shoved her phone in their faces, showing the real-time location. "Look! My daughter is right nearby. Just open the door and she can come in!"
The others exchanged glances and stopped interfering.
The moment the gate was fully open, Cha Jin-ok tried to sprint outside. A few people grabbed her, worried it was too dangerous.
"Look! That's my daughter!" Cha Jin-ok screamed hysterically.
A girl appeared at the corner not far away, running and screaming for her mother. Lee Eun-hyuk, who had just put down the intercom mic, felt a bad premonition hit him hard.
"Should we do something?"
"I'll go," the man in camo said, sprinting out to grab the girl.
He reached out. The second his fingers were about to touch her, a thick, muscular tongue shot out from a nearby cement pipe and punched straight through both their chests. The soldier looked down in shock at the tentacle sticking out of his torso.
He was dead. Died trying to save someone.
Right at that moment, Ivan came down the stairs and saw the whole thing. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't eaten the Long-Tongue Monster last night. The bastard had hidden deep inside a pile of pipes to avoid him. Ivan hadn't felt like digging it out.
Turns out the fucker could really hide. Still squatting in there hours later.
Cha Jin-ok watched her daughter get skewered through the heart.
The long tongue lifted the girl into the air and started sucking her blood dry. At first Cha Jin-ok's face showed pure shock, then numb disbelief.
Only when her daughter's shriveled body hit the ground did she finally let out a broken, wailing scream.
"Too bad she still doesn't realize her daughter died because of her," Ivan muttered, shaking his head as he watched the woman fall apart.
If she hadn't delivered those rotten fish to the security guard, the old man wouldn't have fully turned. The gate wouldn't have been locked. She would've had time to reach her daughter. Everything was connected. One small choice, one big fucking consequence.
Lee Eun-hyuk pressed his lips together. To protect everyone, he reached out and slammed the gate shut, then shoved a heavy metal cabinet in front of it.
A tentacle immediately whipped toward him, but Ivan kicked it in half with a casual swing of his leg. Lee Eun-hyuk stared at him, still shaken, and swallowed hard. "Thanks."
"Why?! Why the hell could you fight but you didn't save my daughter?! Why?!" Cha Jin-ok completely lost it. If people hadn't held her back, she would've thrown herself at Ivan.
"It's not Doctor Ivan's fault. He wasn't even here a second ago," someone with a clearer head tried to calm her down.
Cha Jin-ok didn't give a fuck about anything else anymore. She needed someone to blame.
"Shut your mouth, or I'll feed you to it," Ivan said coldly. He bent down and grabbed the Long-Tongue Monster's thick appendage still under his foot. The creature must have recognized him, because the tongue stayed perfectly still, not daring to twitch.
Once everyone shut up from pure fear, Ivan glanced toward the cement pipes. "Smart boy."
He let go. The tongue quickly slithered back into the pipes like a scared snake.
...
On the other side of the building, Yoon Ji-soo and Jung Jae-heon finished eating at Han Du-sik's place and decided to head down to the first floor. According to Lee Eun-hyuk's announcement, it was supposed to be the safe zone. They wanted to check it out first.
"You sure we should trust that shitty broadcast?" Yoon Ji-soo asked.
She scratched her head awkwardly. "We can't keep bothering you forever. We have to at least try."
Jung Jae-heon looked at the homemade shield Han Du-sik had given him and bowed slightly. "Thank you for the food and the shield. May the Lord bless you."
Han Du-sik replied flatly, "I'm Buddhist."
The mood got a little heavy. Yoon Ji-soo smiled gently and promised, "If the first floor is really safe, we'll come back to get you."
Han Du-sik didn't believe her. In his eyes, this might be the last time he saw them.
"Someone once said even the deepest darkness disappears because of the faintest light," Yoon Ji-soo said with a soft smile.
Cha Hyun-soo, who had been listening, decided to go with them. Before leaving, he turned to the siblings and promised, "I'll come back for you. I swear."
At the same time.
Inside the electrical room, Seo Yi-kyung saw the spider monster finally leave. She started struggling hard against the webbing.
She actually managed to break free. She stripped off her outer jacket, left only in her tight undershirt and pants. The sharp fish-like lines on her abs showed she was in peak shape, even among firefighters.
She climbed the metal racks on the ceiling, reached the ventilation duct, popped open the cover while the monster was gone, and crawled inside.
___
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Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69