𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕣 𝕊𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕔𝕜 ₒᵣᵥ (Hiatus)

Chapter 24: Goodbye Gumho station

The following morning, when I woke up, there were a few changes to Gumho Station.

First of all, Han Myungoh, (yes, that old geezer bastard,) had disappeared. Under normal circumstances, I would've said good riddance, but after the massacre had happened, I wasn't too sure anymore. For all I could know, that sly geezer could've sneaked off and schemed some kind of revenge plan or something.

Oh well. If he comes back with a revenge plan then I'll just punch him senseless. He's not that strong anyways.

"Let's not worry about him now, I didn't like him initially. In addition, he isn't the only one who disappeared." Heewon-unnie muttered. After the paid settlement yesterday, the number of people remaining in Gumho Station was almost nonexistent. Even most of the survivors had left.

Maybe they had all left due to personal reasons? I would never know.

"...Will the remaining people be okay?"

Sangah-unnie asked nervously as she looked at the survivors.

The only people I knew left were Dokja-ahjussi, Sangah-unnie, Hyunsung-ssi, Gilyoung, Heewon-unnie and me. Apart from us six, there were only five other people- strangers, left in this station.

"Hey everyone. Are you coming with us?" Heewon-unnie's casual words caused a stir among the small group of strangers. The representative of the group was a young woman holding a child's hand.

"...We will go separately. We have some coins left."

I see... I think they might be scared of us. It's only natural: we had stronger people who could overpower them easily. No one wants the same situation that happened to this station to occur again.

"Alright. I wish you luck."

I stared at the small group with a little bit of pity. Yes, they were strong, but they had a big responsibility: a young child. Younger than Gilyoung.

Ah... right. I still had these. I dug into my pockets and produced the two remaining pieces of mana candy.

"Excuse me," I spoke up, gaining the attention of the small group. "It may not be much, but please take these." I pressed the two pieces of sweets into the woman's hands. "They're stamina-regenerating candy I got from my constellation."

"...Are you sure? You could use them-"

"I'm certain. Please take these, it might help you later on." I smiled reassuringly, tightly grasping the woman's hands. Just as I was about to leave, the small boy tugged on my pants lightly.

Noticing this gesture, I crouched down to his eye level. "Hey, kiddo. What do you need?"

"Hello... your name, it's Miss Angel, right? Have you seen my friend? His name is Jin, I haven't seen him since last night. He promised to say goodbye to me before he left..." The boy whispered in a shy tone.

My breath hitched at the mention of his name.

"I- I haven't seen him." I lied through my teeth, the regret casting a shadow over my face. "Maybe he left earlier during the big fight? I'll let you know if I do see him, okay?"

"Okay. Pinky promise?"

"Alright, pinky promise."

Standing back up, I cupped my hand and whispered into the mother's ear. "Your son's friend's corpse is still lying on the left train tracks. If you had planned on heading in that direction, I suggest a change in plans; for both his sanity and yours."

The mother nodded at my warning, albeit a little unnerved. I placed a hand on her shoulder in reassurance before turning around and meeting with the remainder of the group.