WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ The Little Prince in the Ossuary

Chapter 85

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Night by the Lake (3)

As the night deepened, the temperature dropped. Snow started mixing into the heavy rain. It was sharp, punishing sleet that melted the instant it touched anything. Even so, it was still snow, and it kept sticking to the lens. Gyeoul considered taking off his night vision goggles. But black mountain ridges surrounded them on every side. No matter how good the boy's eyesight was, there were still limits to what he could see with the naked eye.

His breath turned white in the cold wind. He was breathing hard from running so long. Even at a light jog, he had already been running for half an hour. At least the rough stretch of mountain road was not that long, so he would probably clear it before another half hour passed.

The downpour was a disaster even for things that were not human. A corpse floated in a roadside puddle, bobbing with the ripples, but it was not actually a person. It was a Ghoul, its flesh swollen pale and white. Gyeoul decided to walk over and inspect it. He needed to gather information, and he needed a moment to catch his breath. He signaled the vehicles to stop, then stepped carefully into the standing water.

Splash, splash.

Off the road, the ground under his boots was slick. Mud. The water rose to his waist. The current was almost nonexistent, but in a hollow where two trickles met, a small whirlpool had formed. Even then, it did not have enough pull to knock a person down. Gyeoul tilted his head once and switched weapons. For close quarters, a pistol was better.

He pressed the muzzle to the Ghoul's head and carefully poked it with his free hand. No movement. Was it really dead? This time he slammed it hard with the pistol grip. Crack! Hard enough to split the back of its skull. The floating head sank below the surface, then popped back up from buoyancy.

Trrrkkk!

The gray monster convulsed like it was having a seizure. It flailed its arms and slapped the water wildly. Gyeoul stepped back a few paces and raised one hand to stop the soldiers from firing.

It was like watching a drowning person. Panicked people drowned even in shallow water. Unlike most animals, humans only learned to swim through training. If you did not know how to breathe properly, you could not even stay afloat. The same went for something else using a human as a host.

'It probably lost its footing and could not stand back up. Once death got close, it must have shut down its bodily functions.'

A mutant could put itself into a coma-like state. Muscles stiffened, breathing almost stopped. Then once it received outside stimulation, touch, sight, hearing, smell, it woke and reacted violently, just like now.

He had first seen this in the mutants trapped inside Atascadero State Hospital in this world setting. Originally, it was a way to conserve energy. But it could also conserve oxygen.

Of course, as far as Gyeoul knew, it could not last forever. Oxygen use was reduced, not eliminated. If he had left this Ghoul alone, it would have died eventually.

After thrashing around, the Ghoul spotted Gyeoul and struggled savagely. Its teeth clacked rapidly while it swallowed more and more water. Gyeoul watched that pathetic movement closely and, based on experience, became certain once again that mutants still could not swim, at least for now.

He put two bullets into the Ghoul's head. Thunder swallowed the gunshots. Thin blood streamed from the punctured skull, and the ash-gray body went limp.

As the boy officer stepped back onto dry land, another officer was waiting. Jeffrey asked,

"What was that just now? It looked like a dead one came back to life."

"Jeffrey, remember the ones in the hospital rooms at Atascadero?"

"Ah... so this was the same thing. Wow. Thank you for showing us that. From now on, we need to check drowned corpses too. If we poke them carelessly, we could die for nothing."

"Right. We should spread the same warning to other bases. Especially San Diego North Island."

Jeffrey had taken Gyeoul's little experiment at face value, but that last line made his expression harden. He might seem carefree, but Jeffrey was still a properly trained U.S. officer.

"It's incredible how quickly you thought that far ahead. I respect you, Lieutenant-nim."

San Diego North Island, the last military foothold on North America's west coast, had been running defense operations with the bay waters as a natural barrier. People had firmly believed mutants could not cross water. The U.S. civilians who had evacuated onto ships believed the same thing.

But if half-dead things floated on the water, and someone touched one without knowing, chaos would break out instantly. Maritime refugees were living with their boats pressed right up against each other. If infection started, the plague would spread as fast as it did on land.

Jeffrey looked deeply troubled by that possibility. Gyeoul reassured him.

"Do not worry too much. We have already confirmed mutants fear water. It will take time before they can use this deliberately."

"But with rain pouring like this, it would not be strange if a few brainless mutant bastards fell in and drifted off. I am afraid an accident may already have happened..."

"There is nothing we can do about that part. Someone else may have already warned them."

This was a world where every living person stayed on guard against mutants. It would not be strange if someone had realized what the boy realized first. The Defense Department had people paid to do exactly that.

Gyeoul gave Jeffrey a push.

"Alright, enough wasting time. Let's move."

Travel time stayed within expectations. Before another half hour passed, Gyeoul reached the point where the mountain road crossed a two-lane highway. From there, he no longer needed to lead the route himself. He had run in the rain for almost an hour.

He unclipped the winch hook from his waist. Seeing the boy officer return to the vehicle, two soldiers let out complicated sighs. The Sergeant gripping the turret told Gyeoul to rest.

"You really worked hard. Please rest now."

"Rest? We are in the middle of an operation, and I am the commander. Get down from the gunner seat. Sitting there or inside is not that different anyway, right?"

"Lieutenant-nim. I cannot lie and say a Humvee is a hotel, but someone who ran in the rain for a full hour should rest somewhere warmer and at least eat. While you were running, the other vehicles finished meals in shifts."

Come to think of it, he had not eaten dinner yet. As the deputy commander, Jeffrey seemed to have handled meal orders on his own. Even without an order, the soldiers would have fed themselves anyway.

Gyeoul hesitated briefly, then agreed. The soldier's ability was lower than his, but even inside the vehicle, his sensory correction would not drop that much.

"Then take over for a bit."

The Sergeant sighed again.

"You can keep asking. Please stay in there as long as possible."

The driver chimed in.

"I never thought I would see soldiers sitting while an officer ran. First time in four years of service. Yeah, that really made it feel like the world was ending."

Gyeoul gave a quiet smile. It seemed that was what the soldier wanted.

The vehicle ran steadily without much shaking. It was only a two-lane road, but it was still a highway, so it seemed well built. Before disaster hit the west coast, it had probably been maintained properly too.

That made eating inside easier. At least there was little risk of spilling while pouring water.

The First Strike Ration (FSR) he had eaten in the Atascadero State Hospital lobby had been heavily simplified. What Gyeoul opened now was a standard military ration, MRE: Meal, Ready to Eat. The driver glanced at him opening the package on his lap and tossed out another comment.

"It will taste bad, but enjoy it."

"...I'll try."

His pause was not because he sympathized with the soldier. Every time people said military rations tasted terrible, Gyeoul always had one thought.

'Even so, it is not bad food. Calling it Massive Rectal Explosion is too much.'

Still, it was better than the energy gels he had eaten so often while alive. He truly hated that artificial scent and chemical taste. Thanks to his noona Han Ga-eul's effort, he had at least tasted real cooking from time to time. Without Ga-eul's unusual effort, Gyeoul would have grown up never knowing the joy of food. His family had been too poor to have even one Virtual Reality account, the thing everyone else had.

'Then again, maybe I just did not know. Maybe my parents had accounts.'

He drifted into thought for only a moment. Soon he felt he was wasting time. Meaningless memories, meaningless regret. There was no need to make an already heavy stone even heavier.

He chose to focus on eating.

The ration included a heating pack. Add a little water, and the temperature rose fast. You used it to warm different foods and drinks. It was easy to get burned, so it took care, but even while moving his hands, Gyeoul kept his eyes mostly forward.

When he opened the cheese spread that had been on the heating pack, a savory smell rose and half-melted cheese slowly oozed out. He spread it over a cracker, waited for moisture and fat to soak in, then took a bite.

It was good. Gyeoul showed a faint, unforced smile. The salt was strong enough to sting his tongue, but a warm meal in cold weather earned high marks on its own.

The chicken stew had a strong artificial smell. He disliked that part. Still, the texture of meat close to real chicken breast was satisfying. After a few chews and a roll across his tongue, the flesh soaked in broth separated into soft strands. The mild sweetness of the hot drink clung pleasantly to his mouth too.

"It really looks like you're enjoying that, somehow."

The driver asked with obvious curiosity, and Gyeoul answered.

"Now that you mention it, Jeffrey is not beside me."

The two soldiers tried to hold back sudden laughter. Jeffrey had probably ruined more than one meal for people with his poop stories.

A voice came through the radio amid static. Several people talking out of sequence. It was a pattern he recognized from experience. The soldiers held their breath. Tension thickened. Gyeoul spoke calmly, his voice reassuring.

"Do not worry about it. Judging by the static strength, it is pretty far away. Probably west, around Santa Margarita. The mutants have likely confirmed there is nothing around here, so they would not come out now for no reason, especially in this weather. Pass the word to the rear vehicles too. Tell them not to worry."

The gunner sent hand signals as ordered.

After that, static and meaningless transmissions continued for a while. Then the convoy left the highway and turned south, and the noise cut off abruptly. Terrain. A 1,200-meter peak blocked the signal.

After finishing his meal, Gyeoul unfolded a map. Even with 「Map Navigation」 correction, his 「Memorization」 level was still low, so it was better to check maps often. The boy nodded.

"We are almost there now. No more rough sections either. Just 11 kilometers ahead."

A soldier glanced at the map and asked,

"So it is all flat terrain now with no obstacles. Should we pick up speed a little?"

"Yes."

With Gyeoul's approval, the driver gently increased speed. The point was to lead the trailing vehicles without startling them.

But that run did not last long. When they reached the riverside, the convoy slowed. There was nothing where a bridge should have been. Only rough river water was in sight. The river looked over 30 meters across. On the tactical map, this place had been marked as a tiny stream that had dried up long ago. Its name was Burrito, weirdly appetizing. The real thing looked nothing like that.

Maybe the bridge was submerged below the surface. But there was no way to check.

'And with current this strong, it would still be risky even if the bridge is there.'

A structure under water could not be trusted.

What now. Gyeoul stood with his feet in the shallow edge of the water and searched for a way to cross the river.

============================ Author's Afterword ============================

#Q&A

Q. Cheongnyuryeon-nim: @Thank you for another great chapter today. I left likes and comments first, then started reading carefully. I always enjoy your novels because they are full of dreams, hope, and childlike innocence. These days I am binge-reading I Will Reset Humanity, and while reading your work, this one even feels like a sweet romance novel. Also, author-nim, have you ever read Magic & Dragon or Mahanaraka? They are novels from ten years ago, but they are still works with enough Charm to make me reread them often. Especially the ending afterword of Mahanaraka... Magic & Dragon finished here, and Mahanaraka finished on Munpia. I recommend them to you too.

A. If I get time, I will try reading them. Or maybe I should pause serialization and make time... no, no. Hahaha. Just kidding.

Q. Dohwawon-nim: @Do those clack-clack denture BJ streamers usually play as Swordmasters while gaming?

A. Usually, yes.

Q. Ghozt-nim: @At this point, it would be nice to get another game intro or gallery chat full of dreams, hope, and childlike innocence.

A. Even counting this chapter, that only came out three chapters ago, so is it not still a bit early to do that again?

Q. TigerCandy-nim: Is it because you are full of childlike innocence, author-nim? When I read your chat logs, I keep thinking you are really cute. Thanks again for another great work today. Gyeoul is still capable and cute. The soldiers keep worrying while watching him. The last few chapters were calm, so is a bloody, flesh-flying development coming soon?

A. I cannot tell you the exact timing, but blood and flesh are components of childlike innocence.

Q. SexGallery-nim: This is an insanely top-tier zombie novel, but after around chapter 300 will fantasy and martial arts start coming in too?

A. No. Things like that will not appear.

Q. 14C2A58H2-nim: After today's afterword, does this mean when mutants evolve and act strategically, it is because they predict the protagonist will act that way, or might act that way?

A. Actions by mutants that directly affect Gyeoul and are directly affected by him can be influenced by Gyeoul's TOM Reading results. Also, TOM Reading results are different from conscious prediction.

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