Chapter 1200: [Forced Stench Lure], Mark’s Conjectures About Snow’s Ability

Day 381 - 6:35 PM - Nam District, Busan, South Korea

The entire Korean survivor group moved faster after their guests took charge of the defense.

Still, while they focused on moving, they could not help but get distracted as they saw their guests take care of the danger.

"This is absurd, isn’t it?"

Choi Seo-Yeon spoke with a bitter, self-deprecating smile.

By her side, Kang Ye-Jun could only nod lightly as they watched the entire scene from the roof of the electric truck.

Watching the group who introduced themselves as [Evernight], the Korean could not help but question the reason for their struggles.

***

It started with Mark’s suggestion. It was for his group to handle defense while the Korean survivors should focus on moving. If one thought with common sense, it was such an absurd suggestion. After all, their group had far fewer members than theirs. How would they handle such a danger that their larger group was having a hard time with?

But for some reason, Kang Ye-Jun felt compelled to agree. Although it seemed that the meddling of their [Queen Type] was not accounted for, Mark did, in fact, notice the danger none of them were able to detect. Not to mention the absurd abilities they had shown so far.

Kang Ye-Jun could only feel that they could turn this dangerous situation around.

However, the first surprise was that most of the little girls in their group were the first ones to charge forward.

It was such an absurd scene to see girls between five and mid-teens fearlessly charge towards the hordes of [Infected].

Some of the Korean survivors could not help but call out in shock. What are these girls trying to do? Why are they diving into danger? Those questions immediately popped into their minds as they saw that scene.

It wasn’t until they were silenced by an even more absurd scene.

The seemingly weak girls began taking down one [Infected] after another using various abilities.

One of them let down the hood of her cloak, revealing her green hair. Then, that conspicuous-colored hair began moving on its own, growing into large vines, constricting and pulling the bodies of the [Infected] apart.

The two youngest-looking ones charged further than the others. One moved faster than any quick-footed members of the Korean survivors, meeting the [Infected] with her powerful kicks. The other moved more slowly. But everyone’s mouth could not help but gape open after she grabbed a [Tank-Type Mutated Infected] that was over three meters tall and began using it as a giant club, which smashed everything it hit because of the [Mutated Infected’s] stone-like skin.

Not far behind and watching the two rampage was the oldest of the three sisters. She was not actively fighting the [Infected]. However, as long as one had eyes, they would notice her waving her hand in directions where her sisters and other people around would be in danger. And then, whatever danger it was, it would get halted in place, hitting a near-invisible wall.

But while those girls stole the frontlines, they were not the most conspicuous ones. It was the buffer girl who used her ability on Choi Seo-Yeon earlier. With her body suddenly enveloped in a golden aura, everyone’s panic and fear subsided nearly instantly. In place of those negative emotions, focus and calmness took over. It allowed everyone to move more rationally and bravely, increasing their move speed while still assisting in the defense.

On the other hand, while most of their members began fighting, Mark and his wife remained behind. Still, the wife did take out a white-colored and oddly shaped sniper rifle out of nowhere, just like what his husband did earlier. She seemed to be keeping an eye on the surroundings, ready to move if a danger the others could not handle appeared.

At her side, Mark seemed to be distracted. Still, he looked like he was keeping a good look at the surroundings.

The only ones who did not join the fight were the two girls who came late, the girl who barely talked, the fairy, and the [Queen Type] that caused this mess. The three girls did not seem to have fighting abilities, but who knows? The fairy was now sitting on the wife’s shoulder, seemingly ready to move too when needed. And the [Queen Type] seemed to realize she had done something bad and was quietly following behind Mark.

"Hmmm..."

The distracted Mark suddenly turned his head towards the east.

"Is something wrong?"

Kang Ye-Jun was keeping an eye on Mark’s odd behavior and asked after the sudden change.

"There’s a cockroach."

Mark replied with a shrug.

A "rat" meant something sneaked in, or an unwanted guest. A "cockroach" meant something survived. And both terms refer to enemies.

Kang Ye-Jun could not help but turn his head in the same direction as Mark as the realization kicked in.

"Someone survived that mess?"

Choi Seo-Yeon blurted out the same thing that was in Kang Ye-Jun’s mind.

"Mei’er," Mark called out to his wife. "I’m going for a bit."

"Alright, be careful. Leave the girls to me," Mei replied with a slight worry and added. "And try not to lose control, or I’ll get angry."

"It would be nice if you really got angry, you know?"

Mark said nonchalantly, making Mei pout. After all, in the end, she would not get angry and just hug him tightly, full of worry.

"Sir Mark," Kang Ye-Jun called out. "Are you really going?"

"Yeah?" Mark turned with a playful smile. "You see. I don’t have a habit of leaving an enemy alive. Unless I’m sure they won’t have long left."

And as he left those words, Mark’s figure blurred, turning into black mist and vanishing from everyone’s sight. Of course, this scene made the Korean survivors around them jump in fright. On the other hand, Kang Ye-Jun and Choi Seo-Yeon realized that he had vanished using the ability he used to appear and save Amaya Ran from danger.

Thus, even without Mark, the entire group moved, protected by their guests.

***

After vanishing using his [Shadow Mist Movement] ability, Mark materialized not too far from the group. He then conjured his wings, taking flight without the others seeing him.

From the sky, despite the darkness of the early night, Mark’s enhanced eyesight could see the chaos below.

Aside from the direction where the Korean group was, there were still thousands of [Infected] converging from all directions, all running towards the location where the enemy group was incapacitated by Snow’s unexpected attack.

It was quite a surprise for Mark to see Snow step in and use an ability they had never seen before. Since meeting Snow, she had only shown them her physical prowess and nothing else. As such, this move was extremely unexpected.

However, from what Mark had seen, Snow’s ability was far different from those of [Lure Type Infected]. The [Lure Type Infected], which were composed of so-called Screamers, Belchers, and Vomiters. Screamers use high-pitched screeches to lure [Infected] in their direction. On the other hand, Belchers use some form of gas, and Vomiters use bile, both of which have the purpose of letting out something from their mouths that attracts the [Infected].

Snow’s ability was none of those. She did scream, but that scream was far different from a Screamer’s high-pitched screech. Snow’s scream would barely affect the [Infected], if not at all. What her scream affected were her target, Humans.

When Snow’s scream was heard, the bodies of the enemies began releasing all sorts of strong smells, including feces and urine. It was only then that the [Infected] in the surroundings reacted.

"Is that it?"

Mark murmured with a sudden realization.

From the start, the [Infected] would converge outside locations where human survivors were hiding, no matter whether they were careful or not. Even if one hid in a place without light or noise, the [Infected] would still find their location and begin to lurk around even without a target.

What if this was the reason?

What if the [Infected] could detect odors and smells that humans emit even if they were almost unperceivable to the human senses? And since those smells would spread out in locations where humans linger, the [Infected] would sense them but would be unable to pinpoint the exact location where it was coming from, causing them to wander and lurk in the area.

Then, Snow’s ability might be to forcibly make her targets release those smells in larger, stronger quantities, causing the immediate and aggressive response of the [Infected].

"What a frightening ability..."

Mark said it was frightening, but he sure was not making any expression of fear. Well, his face barely had any expression now that there were no people around. There was no need to fake it when no one was around.

"There you are..."

Mark’s tone was already flat. One would likely shiver after the absolute contrast of his expression compared to before.

His emotionless eyes reflected the obese figure frantically running below despite the clothes stained with all the grossness a human body could emit.

It was the leader of the enemy group. The fatty who called himself Wang Tae-Hoon. It seemed that out of his entire group, he was the only one with the ability to survive what Snow made them go through. But then again, it should not be that much of a surprise. While he did look like some sort of comic relief character, he was actually the strongest [Mutator] among his group.

That fat body of his was not just for show. Even as he ran, Wang Tae-Hoon was purposely crashing against the [Infected] blocking his way without fear of getting caught or bitten. He was like a bull charging across a prairie.

CRASH! BAM!

Wang Tae-Hoon’s step became heavier as he was about to crash into an [Infected], and then he charged through, causing the [Infected] to fly back as if it were hit by a truck. Before the collision, his body showed a metallic sheen before reverting to normal as he ran away.

"Did he have the same ability as General Wijaya? Or maybe something similar."

Mark pondered.

General Wijaya’s ability was to turn his skin into metal. However, while it raised his defenses, it came with a drawback of his joints being harder to move, causing him to slow down his movements. Unfortunately, the mutation did not allow the General to choose only specific parts of his body to transform.

It seemed that Wang Tae-Hoon had the same drawbacks, but was mitigating them by only transforming when needed.

"Smart."

Mark commended. The tone was still flat, though.

However, Mark could not help but notice that despite his weight, Wang Tae-Hoon sure was running fast. He was probably faster than most marathon runners Mark had seen before.

"Is he also an [Evolver]?"

Unfortunately, while Mark could detect [Mutators], he had no way of recognizing [Evolvers] unless they showed their abilities. Also, the [PsyCrystal] could only take [Mutator] abilities and not those of [Evolvers], so it did not matter much.

"Hah..." Mark shook his head. "Let’s end this farce. Mei is waiting for me to go back."

***

"F*ck! F*ck!"

Wang Tae-Hoon ran while cursing.

He could not understand what happened. That b*tch only screamed at them and everyone went down, including him. Then, the [Infected] swarmed, causing everyone to die. If not for the fact that he could turn his skin into metal, he would have met the same fate as his men, eaten and torn apart.

"Damn it!"

All the preparations were for naught! It was all because of those strangers!

"Once I get back, I’ll make them pay! Boss won’t let them go if he hears there are new girls to play with!"

Wang Tae-Hoon roared in anger.

"Don’t be delusional."

All of a sudden, a voice speaking in awkward Korean entered his ears. The next thing he knew, a cloaked figure stood in front of him.

’Who?!’ Wang Tae-Hoon thought. ’It doesn’t matter! I’ll just smash you out of the way!’

’Huh?’

Wang Tae-Hoon finally noticed. His body stopped moving. And then, his vision began falling to the ground.

The last thing he saw was the cloaked figure picking him up from his hair before everything went black.

***

THUMP!

The sound of a large lump of flesh falling to the ground echoed.

"His headless body sure fell dramatically."

Mark mocked as he picked up Wang Tae-Hoon’s head.

Having the presence of a dead person sure was handy when doing sneak attacks. Wang Tae-Hoon even failed to notice he was already beheaded even in his last moments.

"I only need the head anyway, "Mark said as his eyes fell on the smelly lump of flesh on the ground. "Will the [Infected] even find this tasty?"

There, Mark left the headless body and took the head away. Unfortunately, this was not a good place to extract the mutation. He would do it later.

Mark sensed the presence of the group. They sure made it far while Mark was taking his time.

By the time he reunited with everyone, the group was already outside the danger zone.

Everyone was already feeling relieved. But of course, no one let their guard down. They still had some distance to travel before getting to safety.