[Chapter 3]
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As he paid attention, the sound of footsteps got even clearer. From the sound of their heavy footsteps, it seemed like they were wearing thick shoes.
As the footsteps got closer, Dung Beetle realized it wasn't just one set of footsteps but two.
"Ah, we're finally done."
As expected, two men emerged from the darkness.
Familiar gas masks, familiar uniforms... they were undoubtedly janitors who belonged to the same Janitor Guild as him.
"Damn, I neve thought that there'd be a day when janitors have to clean up other janitors."
The two men were dragging a corpse wearing the same uniform as theirs. Each held one leg, and because of that, they left a long trail of blood behind them.
...Could it be that those bastards were the ones who dragged the corpses here? Dung Beetle held his breath and moved away from their line of sight.
Just as he barely managed to move out of the janitors' line of sight, the two janitors threw the corpse they were dragging into the pile of bodies.
Splat! Blood and filth splattered from the stacked bodies. Their actions showed no respect for the dead.
Dung Beetle frowned and fled from their sight. He hadn't forgotten what the player said before killing him… that their boss was the one who sold them out.
If that was true, then those janitors were potentially enemies.
…I'll hide for now and secretly follow them when they leave.
While Dung Beetle was busily devising his escape plan, the two janitors turned on their flashlights and approached the pile of bodies. They began inspecting the corpses, moving their lights back and forth.
Of all things, they were moving towards Dung Beetle's hiding place.
Could it be... did they catch sight of me?
Fortunately, his worry was unfounded. The two janitors stopped just short of Dung Beetle's hiding place and started talking to each other.
"Hey, don't we have some time to spare? How about a quick snatch?"
"Snatch? Well... we do have about 40 minutes left."
"Man, we're already working overtime here; don't you think that we should at least take something?"
Dung Beetle felt nauseous as soon as he heard them say 'Snatch.'
Snatch. It was the secret code that janitors used when they wanted to steal anything of some value from the corpses.
Snatch, my ass. Disgusting bastards.
A filthy act; legally and morally unforgivable.
He really hated the term. Snatching, you said? It was such a hypocritical term that was made to sound trivial and harmless.
As evident by the term, people other than janitors referred to 'snatch' by.
Maggot work.
Because of some indecent janitors who did that, the image of janitors as a whole was worsening day by day. His foreman and colleagues never engaged in snatching during their lifetimes because they were janitors, not maggots.
In that sense, those two were maggots.
Maggots who had no respect for the dead; having forsaken their last shred of humanity, blinded by money.
How are those shameless bastards still alive while we…
Dung Beetle chewed on his lower lip as he watched the janitors rummage through the corpses. When he thought of his dead colleagues, he felt as if something was churning within his chest.
However, he had to hold himself back for now. Let's endure and think about everything else after getting out of here. Escape, revenge—all that could be done later. For now, he had to stay hidden.
As Dung Beetle reminded himself to stay hidden in the darkness, those bastards began sifting through the corpses, looking for anything valuable.
"Damn, these scumbags. How come we can't even find a single gold tooth?"
"Do you think that anyone with money would be acting like a thug in Incheon? They'd be in Kaesong or Busan if they had any skills. The only things in this damned city are outcasts and corpses."
A/N- Kaesong is a special city in the southern part of North Korea (formerly in North Hwanghae Province) and was a part of South Korea between 1945 and 1950. It was also the capital of Korea during the Taebong kingdom and subsequent Goryeo dynasty.]
"Yeah, you're right. I know that."
And seeing how they skillfully stole from selected corpses, it was definitely not their first time doing this. They pried open mouths to extract gold teeth, stripped off clothes, and emptied pockets…
Soon, they reached where Dung Beetle's colleagues' bodies lay.
Please, just pass by.
Dung Beetle pleaded silently, but the bastards didn't walk past his colleagues' bodies.
Those disgusting bastards were maggots wearing the uniform of a janitor.
"Oh my, this old man… even when he died, he did it cleanly."
They stood in front of the foreman's body, pointing their flashlights at it. The brutally trampled corpse was exposed, but there was no sign of respect or courtesy on their faces. They prodded the body with their feet, spouting mocking remarks.
"Tsk, tsk, he made such a fuss about not snatching. Look at him now. He completely turned into ground meat."
"It was because he kept making a fuss that he ended up like this. Don't you know his whole team was marked by the higher-ups?"
"By the higher-ups? How did that happen? This old man was really good at his job."
"The Director asked him to secretly hoard a few bodies, and he refused and confronted him. Well, he said something about not dishonoring the dead."
"Wow, what a great guy. Did he think he was some sort of priest? Dishonor my ass, a corpse is just a corpse."
Watching this, Dung Beetle gritted his teeth hard. His blood ran cold, and it felt like his head was about to explode.
"Now that I think about it, didn't this old man save up some money? And he had no family, right?"
"That money's going straight into the Director's pocket, so don't even think about it. Do you want to end up as a corpse as well?"
"Hmmm, what about the others then? There was that guy on his team, what was his name, uh… Deokbae? Didn't that bastard always wear a rather big gold ring?"
"A gold ring?"
As soon as Uncle Deokbae's name was brought up, Dung Beetle shut his eyes.
If he saw them desecrate the bodies of his colleagues… if he saw them desecrate Uncle Deokbae, he felt like he wouldn't be able to tolerate it any longer.
Don't look. Don't look and endure… I must endure.
Dung Beetle curled up even more and searched for the angel within his heart.
Angel, oh, Angel. Why is this happening?
Why can that madman who merely saw people as XP prance around so confidently?
Why did my colleagues have to die instead of that damn Director, who sold his subordinates for only 250,000 won?
Why do my colleagues have to be humiliated and disgraced even after death?
O' Angel, O' God beyond the dimensional portal, please, answer me.
If goodness truly exists, then why is this world so unfair and cruel?
…However, there was no answer. Just like usual, it never came.
"Oh, I found it! The gold ring!"
"Finally, something valuable!"
As Dung Beetle desperately averted his gaze, the excited voices of those bastards reached his ears.
Unable to hold back, Dung Beetle raised his head.
...Ah.
He saw them twistUncle Deokbae's finger, remove the gold ring, and then toss the body aside.
Thud! Uncle Deokbae's upper body rolled on the floor. For a very brief moment, Dung Beetle met his eyes as the corpse rolled.
There were tears of blood flowing from Uncle Deokbae's eyes.
…At that moment, something inside Dung Beetle snapped.
"This bastard wasn't even married; why the hell did he go around wearing a gold ring?"
"For us to snatch it?"
"Ehehehe, right. He wore it to fill our pockets."
Unaware of what was happening in the darkness, the bastards continued rejoicing as they rummaged through the other corpses.
"Hey, we don't have much time left. Let's finish up and get out of here."
"Didn't they say there was an elf as well? You should go check the elf, and I'll check the janitors a bit more."
The one who took Uncle Deokbae's gold ring moved towards Dung Beetle, while the other moved away towards the elf's body.
Instinctively realized this was his chance, Dung Beetle quietly took off his blood-soaked work uniform.
This uniform was cheap and other than being tough and durable, it was nothing special.
However, at that moment, that was more than enough for Dung Beetle. He rolled the uniform into a long, rope-like strip.
Clutching the rolled-up uniform in both hands, he silently approached the bastard, who had taken the gold ring, from behind.
And then...
"Just one more thing to gra... kgh!"
He wrapped the rolled-up uniform around the bastard's neck and tightened it. Squeezing with all his might, he used his legs to cling to that person's body, to ensure he couldn't escape.
"Ghk, kh, khk."
The ambushed bastard grasped at his neck as he struggled. He twisted his body, kicked his legs, and flailed his arms.
However, it was all in vain.
The despicable maggot, who did nothing but desecrate the dead, was unable to escape the noose.
It didn't take much time for the bastard's body to go limp. Dung Beetle swallowed hard as he stared at the maggot fallen at his feet.
Ah.
His strength deserted him, and his mind cooled down. Murder... yes, this was murder.
I killed someone.
Yet... something didn't feel right. For some reason, he felt nothing.
No sense of achievement or guilt. It simply felt like he was doing something obvious… like drinking water when thirsty or stepping on a maggot when he saw one.
However, murder was still murder. Dung Beetle was shocked by how he felt nothing even after killing the bastard.
Why do I feel nothing?
Suddenly, the voice of the bastard stripping the elf's corpse reached his ears.
"Hey! We've hit a jackpot! There's a necklace on this elf's body!"
As the bastard called out to his coworker, he naturally shone his flashlight in this direction...
"Huh… What the hell...?"
However, what he saw was Dung Beetle strangling the maggot.
Dung Beetle turned towards the light, and their eyes met. They say eyes are the windows of the soul. Even though they were both wearing gas masks, they could instantly understand each other's thoughts.
Kill!
This crazy bastard.
A very brief silence filled the space and then, it vanished.
The maggot bastard was the first to make his move. He turned and ran without hesitation. Dung Beetle pushed the dead maggot aside and chased after him.
The chase didn't last long.
"Aagh, damn it!"
Crash! Ironically, the bastard tripped over the very corpse he had tossed earlier. The dead body had no sense of injustice, and the heavens remained silent, but he was now paying the price for his desecration.
"Damn it! Stay back! Don't come any closer!"
As the bastard flailed over the filth oozing from the corpse, Dung Beetle pounced on him.
The maggot bastard struggled to avoid being pinned down, but he couldn't hold out for long against the higher ground. Dung Beetle mounted him and used his knees to pin his shoulders and solar plexus.
"Wa— kgh, wait, argh!"
The moment he gained the upper hand, Dung Beetle immediately thrust his fist down. He showed no hesitation while delivering the blows. After all, this was the man who had mocked the foreman and desecrated Uncle Deokbae's corpse.
"P-please, spare me! Please, st- kh! Stop!"
The bastard flailed his arms, screaming desperately, but the punches didn't stop.
Whack! Whack! Whack! The gas mask tore off, blood splattered, and eventually, the sound of something breaking rang. Dung Beetle abandoned himself to the raw violence and instinct.
He could no longer tell if he was hitting someone's head or if this was something he had been suppressing all this time. However, he didn't even want to know.
Dung Beetle kept punching until he could punch no more.
And when he finally stopped…
『Finally.』
'It' spoke to him.
『You've crossed the line.』