Breathing Life into Real Dolls
Chapter 52: Innermost Thoughts

1.

Riiing—

Riiing—

Riiing—

…First, I needed to deal with the incessantly ringing phone.

I wrote a message on the notepad, copied it, and pasted it to everyone who had messaged me.

「This is Kim Doha. I’m currently busy and will explain the situation later.」

Finally, the vibrations stopped.

“…Master, what happened?”

Serena and Ciel, who seemed unable to understand the current situation, were only looking at me.

But I was in just as much need of understanding.

“Just a moment…”

I took a moment to gather my thoughts.

The first thing that came to mind was the phrase from the ranking window:

‘Defeating Ashimone’s minions is the will of Goddess Hestia.’

I had a rough idea about Ashimone since I had heard about it from Kwon Junyong: She was a goddess of hell and was known by a certain unpleasant term.

Then who was Goddess Hestia?

Judging by the fact that she likely manipulated the ranking window as she pleased, it could be inferred that Hestia was the one supporting this system and status window.

Furthermore, through the phrase in the ranking window, Hestia made her intention clear:

‘To defeat Ashimone’s minions.’

In other words, Hestia was an enemy of Ashimone.

There was a saying, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” so one could argue that Hestia might be an ally to the surviving survivors, at least for now.

Then why did she suddenly create something called a ranking window?

After thinking this far, the conclusion was obvious.

To defeat more of Ashimone’s minions and to do it faster.

Since it would be used to tempt the stronger ability users, who wouldn’t want to hold a high rank?

She was saying this:

‘Work harder to defeat the enemies and receive the grace of the goddess.’

‘Show off your abilities to others through the ranking window.’

A method to increase performance by creating competition.

“…I like it.”

Hestia was a goddess who knew how to use her head.

At least she was different from the unpleasant term Ashimone, who made people slaves through unfair contracts.

“Good.”

Once I had sorted things out in my mind, the conclusion became simple.

This suddenly created ranking system was also working in my favor.

Ever since I heard Kwon Junyong’s story, I had planned to disclose all information in the community and request the nation’s ability users to block the rifts.

But now that this ranking window appeared, the persuasiveness of my words would increase.

As a bonus, from now on, the rift strategy I would use was the guidebook for the top ranker.

But the immediate thing to do was…

“Shall we go catch the chicken first?”

Serena’s face brightened up as she exclaimed.

“Yes, yes, yes!”

“…”

Ciel looked at Serena and smiled contentedly.

2.

We came to Yangju in the first place to catch chickens to raise as livestock.

Of course, we caught Kwon Junyong as if a cow had backed into a mouse, but…

Returning to the poultry farm, we stuffed the chickens into a large net we brought from D-Mart as we caught them.

Cluck-cluck-cluck—

Cock-a-doodle-doo—

Cluck!

We seemed to have captured dozens of them.

“Let’s go, Ciel.”

“Departure—!”

“Heavy, it’s heavyyyy—!”

Ciel complained that it was heavy, but somehow, she lifted it.

We soon returned to D-Mart.

From a distance, as the D-Mart looked small, a person who had been on guard on the rooftop spotted us and waved.

He must have alerted the others, as by the time we arrived, people were gathered around the chicken coop like clouds.

“Wow, chickens!”

“How many are there?”

“Now we can eat eggs too!”

“I want chicken! Freshly fried chicken…”

“You all worked hard!”

“Thank you, Mr. Doha!”

A few thank yous led to people giving us a round of applause.

Clap-clap-clap-clap-clap—

“Hahaha… You don’t have to do that.”

“Yahoo—!”

“……”

Serena waved to the people with a smile, and Ciel stood quietly behind me.

At that moment, Lee Jinah, who was near the land prepared for farming, ran over.

“Captain! What did that system message mean earlier?”

It was a short question, but her face was full of curiosity.

“I’ll tell you soon. Let’s have a survivors’ representative meeting. Gather the people.”

“Yes!”

Lee Jinah quickly disappeared into the mart.

I walked slowly towards the conference room.

3.

Most people looked confused by the sudden call.

Ordinary people without abilities couldn’t summon the status window, so the notification about the ranking window must have only appeared to the ability users.

As I made eye contact with Baek Seona, she gave me a slight nod.

I began to speak in earnest.

“The reason I suddenly called this meeting is to inform you about the new information we acquired today and to discuss our future direction.”

From then on, the explanation of the events of the day continued.

The encounter with the zombie man at a poultry farm in Yangju.

Following that zombie man that led to finding ‘Asimone’s Rift’ inside a house.

Information obtained from interrogating the zombie man, Kwon Junyong.

The existence of Asimone, the goddess of hell.

The connection between newly emerging mutant zombies and the rift.

What we had seen inside the rift.

The sudden appearance of the ranking window for all ability users after successfully sealing the rift was notified by a system alert.

“……”

After all the explanations, the room was enveloped in silence.

There were so many shocking details that it seemed they needed time to absorb them.

That was when Baek Jihun raised his hand.

“Uh, Jihun, go ahead.”

“How much of the information you mentioned do you plan to share, hyung? If people know about it, it could help to stop the rifts before they get unsealed.”

“Good question. I plan to organize all this information and post it on the community. I will reveal that I am the number one ranked Kim Doha and include strategies for dealing with the rifts.”

At my answer, Baek Jihun nodded his head, smiling.

“You are indeed my hyung. But by any chance… Do you have any video footage of the inside of the rift?”

Oops. I had forgotten that.

I even took proof photos to upload to the community, but I didn’t think to record the inside…

“I didn’t think that far. I guess I was nervous since it was my first time going in.”

“No, brother. Sealing the rift for the first time is already a great achievement.”

Baek Jihun waved his hand as if to say, don’t worry about it.

Next, Baek Seona raised her hand.

“I’ll try writing the post to upload to the community. Of course, the strategies for the rift will be based on what Doha oppa has said. I’m confident in writing it in an easy-to-read way. Besides, people don’t read well these days without a three-line summary.”

“Great. I’ll leave that to you, Seona.”

Things were progressing smoothly.

I wanted to post the first strategy and then record a video of the inside of the rift next time.

Other people attending the meeting began to speak as well.

“Is there anything that ordinary people without abilities can do?”

“We must strengthen our defenses. We never know when the mutant zombies from the rift might attack on a large scale.”

“They were said to be intelligent too.”

“Will the barrier of the land of hope be effective against the mutant zombies?”

“There are broken asphalt and stones from farming. We can make barricades with those……”

Listening up to that point, I raised my hand.

Then, people’s gaze focused on me.

“Speaking of those rifts, actually, Ciel can roughly sense the energy coming from the rifts.”

The attention shifted to Ciel.

Ciel silently nodded her head.

“Oh, wow!”

“That’s great!”

“Then can we preemptively strike before the mutant zombies pour out?”

I nodded my head.

“Yes. So, for the time being, I intend to concentrate on sealing the rifts as I go around the area with Serena and Ciel.”

“Wow……”

As soon as I finished speaking, Baek Jihun exclaimed.

“I really admire you, hyung. You are truly a savior.”

……This guy was all good, but sometimes, he would make shameless comments that were even embarrassing to the listener.

At that time, Mr. Sangdeok, who was attending the meeting as a cafeteria representative, spoke, nodding his head.

“I agree. No matter how strong one’s sense of justice is, it’s not something anyone can do. Thank you always, Doha.”

Mr. Sangdeok was also someone who always said thank you as a habit whenever we met.

When those two began to speak, everyone participating in the meeting suddenly began to say something one by one.

“Looking at the internet, it seems like nowhere else is living as well as us. Thank you, Doha.”

“Really. If it weren’t for Doha, we would have been slaves to that bastard Choi Cheolnam. There’s really nothing else to say but thank you.”

“There must be a lot of survivors still living as slaves, right? Human rights are no longer a concept. It’s maintained because of Doha.”

“Uh, uh……”

I was taken aback.

An unbearable, cringeworthy energy filled the meeting room.

“I’ve said all I have to say, so today’s meeting will end here. Please continue to share your thoughts.”

I quickly left the meeting room. Sᴇaʀᴄh the ɴovᴇlꜰirᴇ.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“He’s running away because he’s embarrassed!”

“He hasn’t finished speaking yet!”

…

4.

After leaving the meeting room, I headed alone to Baek Seona’s room.

She said earlier that she would write a post to upload to the community, so I planned to wait here and write it together.

I told Serena and Ciel to rest in our room.

In that empty room, I lay on the bed and fell into deep thought.

The people who had just painted my face with praise.

Was it truly a sincere expression of gratitude? Or was it calculated flattery?

The real power in this D-Mart was concentrated in the hands of those with abilities.

Because it was structured to operate by those with abilities.

It would be the same anywhere, not just here, if it were a gathering of survivors who had lived through this zombie apocalypse.

It was different from the past society, where all members did their part and contributed to the community.

In this zombie apocalypse, those with abilities contribute overwhelmingly more to the community, almost incomparable to ordinary people.

In other words, ordinary people without abilities were in an inherently insecure position.

‘We could be abandoned by those with abilities at any time.’

‘We must look good to those with abilities.’

These thoughts might unconsciously take hold.

Once I had these thoughts, it became difficult to accept people’s expressions of gratitude as purely sincere.

“Sigh……”

After worrying about such trivial matters for about 30 minutes, the room’s owner returned.

“Ugh……”

Baek Seona looked at me and came in with a wry smile.

“Everyone wanted to express their gratitude, thinking it was a chance. Shouldn’t you have accepted it?”

“……”

Hearing her words, I pondered for a moment.

Should I tell this to Baek Seona or not?

……She was one of the few people who knew all my secrets, including my abilities.

Apart from Serena and Ciel, who had become human through my abilities, she was the only one.

There must be no worries I couldn’t talk to Baek Seona about.

I honestly shared my inner thoughts.

“……”

Baek Seona, who silently listened to my words, suddenly apologized.

“I’m sorry.”

“……For what?”

“The words I said as soon as I came in earlier. I didn’t know it would be a burden to you……”

“Heh heh. It’s okay.”

I smiled and patted Baek Seona’s head.

“Doha oppa. You don’t need to act composed in front of me.”

“I’m really okay now.”

“Then I’m glad.”

Baek Seona chuckled, then spoke with a serious expression.

“…But you know, I don’t think their expressions of gratitude were hypocritical for their own safety. Everyone is sincerely thankful. To Doha oppa, who saved all of our lives.”

“……”

I continued to stroke Baek Seona’s head without saying a word.

She accepted it as she looked into my eyes and hugged me tightly.

“How about trusting me if you can’t trust people? I was a useless woman without any abilities. You saved my life. You saved my family, too. I truly thank you with all my heart. Do you doubt my sincerity, too?”

Her eyes quietly looked at me.

In them, a pure heart without a hint of hesitation was beating.

“……No. I don’t doubt.”

“Hee hee hee.”

Baek Seona smiled contentedly.

“But…… Oppa.”

“Huh?”

“I read something on the internet…… Do you feel bad right now?”

“No, I feel good.”

“You were uneasy just before. Hurry up and say you feel bad.”

I answered with my half doubts.

“……Yeah, I feel bad.”

Then Baek Seona took off her shirt and offered her chest wrapped in a white bra, saying:

“Then… want to touch my chest?”

“……”

Really, Baek Seona, you……

This playful succubus……

Since we were sitting on the bed and hugging each other, she immediately noticed my swelling arousal.

“……♡”

Her eyes were wide with excitement as she looked at me.

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