Chapter 59: Joining
Chapter 59: Joining
#
"I've never seen anything like this either, so I can't be certain, but taken literally, it looks as though these bats have been enhanced."
"It looks that way. I'd been wondering why my baseball bat never broke and kept lasting so long, and now I'm starting to understand."
"Then for now, I'll use my ability on you, Raid Leader, and the other two first. After that, I'll slowly try using the ability on other objects separately and figure things out."
I stopped her from trying the ability on other items and asked her to use it on us first.
Ye-jin also said this was her first time seeing the term "enhanced" pop up, so she found it intriguing.
It was probably connected to killing zombies.
"Ah... Raid Leader, I did use my ability, but I couldn't read everything. I'll write down what I can see for now. I'll have to examine the other two after I rest and recover. I thought I had plenty of energy left, but it ran out halfway through using my ability on you. That's never happened before either... A lot of firsts today."
* Kim Tae-sik 3
* ???
* ???
* Pore Minimization, Mild Skin Regeneration, Mild Cavity Removal, Mild Hair Root Strengthening, Mild Heat Resistance, ??? ...
The information Ye-jin gave me after using her Information Display ability was slightly different from what I'd expected.
"Seriously, your ability is completely broken. Smaller pores, skin regeneration... No wonder your skin has looked so good lately. It practically makes you younger. And heat resistance too? That's going to be amazing in summer."
"Right. I've used my ability on everyone in the alliance, but this is the first time it has shown so many different details. And this is only part of it, so there must be even more hidden, right?"
"Ye-jin, is this everything? Did you put the question marks in arbitrarily, or do they also show up in what you see with your ability?"
"It's a little embarrassing, but I wrote down everything I can see right now. I added the question marks myself. I could sense that there was much more there, but I couldn't identify it, and I didn't know how else to explain that."
"I see, thank you. It was still helpful. It seems like there's a lot more we could find out if your ability were strengthened, Ye-jin."
It seemed like we could learn something more if she used the ability on Seon-yeong or Ga-yeong next.
For now, my guess was that the 3 beside my name meant I had three Sub-traits.
It also seemed that the entries from Pore Minimization through Mild Heat Resistance were the limit of what Ye-jin could identify at her current level.
It was just a hunch, but those were probably the changes caused by Body Enhancement II. To identify Enhanced Recovery and Body Enhancement on top of that, we'd most likely need to increase Ye-jin's Available Points significantly.
The problem was that Ye-jin's ability wasn't a combat-type ability.
It was a mystery why people even turned into zombies in the first place, but I was also curious about why each person developed a different ability.
Some people gained abilities that were enormously useful for survival, while Ye-jin's was completely useless in a fight against zombies. As time passed, the gap between people with different abilities would only grow.
"Ah, what a shame. If I'd known this would happen, I would've had her start with Ga-yeong and me. I guess because you've killed so many zombies, it's hard to use Information Display on you, huh?"
"Yes, Seon-yeong. I think that's the case. Just how many have you killed?"
"He's definitely killed a lot. How many zombies have you taken down? If I remember right, it was already more than a hundred."
"I passed a hundred a while back."
"Wow... How did you manage to kill so many? Raid Leader, your ability must be an incredibly good one."
"Ye-jin, just look at his body. Even before we knew he had an ability, he was already smashing zombies apart. Back when we worked at the company, whenever a nightmare customer showed up, we sent him out first. After that, they always came back in perfectly polite."
"That sounds like exactly what would happen. Seon-yeong, please come by again sometime. I'll take another look for you then."
"Ah, right. Ye-jin, can you gather the others right now?"
"Yes, they should all be home. Should I call them over here?"
"Yeah, that would be great. Tell them we all need to talk about something in the living room."
#
Seven women gathered and sat down in the spacious living room.
With them huddled together on the sofa and the floor, all just staring at me, I felt oddly self-conscious.
"It's good to meet everyone. I'm glad to see so much color back in your faces after only a day. My name is Kim Tae-sik, and I'm thirty-four. I'll keep the introduction brief. I asked you all to gather because we have a proposal. How would you feel about joining forces with the three of us so that we can survive together from now on?"
So-ra, who was their de facto leader, quietly raised her hand.
"Does that mean we'd be joining Kim Tae-sik's Raid Party?"
"Ah... I'm not asking you to join an actual raid party. I mean that we should survive together, the same way all of you have been living together as an alliance."
"So does that mean we can't join the raid party? I'm not quite following what you mean by surviving together."
"Haah... Seon-yeong has made the wording a little strange, but... So-ra."
Her question about joining Kim Tae-sik's Raid Party made the absurdity of that name hit me all over again.
No matter how I thought about it, it was way too embarrassing.
I honestly felt as though I were being publicly humiliated.
So, without realizing it, I ended up muttering to myself.
"Yes?"
"Simply put, yes, you understood correctly. But the name Kim Tae-sik's Raid Party was only a joke among the three of us. We don't actually call ourselves that."
"Ah, I see. In any case, should I understand this as an invitation to join Kim Tae-sik's Raid Party?"
"Haah... Yes, that's right. Please discuss it among yourselves and take your time getting back to us."
As if she hadn't heard a single word I said, she asked again if this was about joining Kim Tae-sik's Raid Party.
It was a convenient way to explain things, but the thought that the name might become permanent made me deeply uneasy.
"Understood. In that case, we will join. Thank you, Raid Leader."
"Sure, take as long as you—excuse me? You should discuss it with the others first..."
"We already discussed it. We were actually planning on asking you again today, so we're grateful you brought it up first, Raid Leader. So, now that we're in the same raid party, would you mind speaking a bit more casually with us?"
"Oh, wow~ This is great. So we're living together now?"
"Seon-yeong, sniff... I feel so relieved now. Honestly, after you all left yesterday, we were all feeling a bit anxious among ourselves."
"That's right... Ga-yeong, I'll be counting on you from now on. I'll work hard too, so please help me whenever you can."
"Oh, um, yes... I'm not sure how much help I'll be..."
"Seon-yeong, is the Raid Leader really thirty-four? We all thought he was a bit younger than that."
"Right, right. I thought you were only a few years older than me too."
The moment Seon-yeong shot up and threw her arms up cheering, the room instantly devolved into a noisy marketplace.
I doubted I could endure the middle of that chaos, so I decided to wait outside until the women calmed down.
I was also suddenly dying for a cigarette.
The moment I tried to slip away quietly, the women stopped chattering and turned toward me in unison.
For a second, I flinched in fright, thinking I'd walked into a scene from a horror movie.
Then Seon-yeong turned back and resumed the conversation, and chatter once again filled the living room that had fallen silent.
Flick. Pshhhh... Hoooo.
Had I made a mistake by proposing they join us?
Would I really be able to get along living with these people?
I was beginning to worry about my hearing...
As I was killing time with these pointless thoughts, Ga-yeong came outside.
"Mister, you finished your cigarette. What are you doing out here by yourself?"
"Just... I'm afraid to go back inside, haha. Why'd you come out?"
"Heh heh heh, same here. I can't get used to it..."
"You look like a social butterfly, so what's wrong with you? Is it still loud in there?"
"Yes. I think things will only settle down once you go back in, Mister."
"All right, let's go. We still need to return home today. We can't all move in together at once."
When I went back inside, the women stopped talking in the middle of their conversation and all turned to look at me.
I'd been agonizing over how to settle things down, but they quieted themselves without any help from me.
Was this how all those terrifying teachers felt whenever they walked into a classroom?
"I'd like us to start living together today, but there are still a few things to handle first. We need to decide where everyone will live. You don't know much about our place, do you?"
"Raid Leader, could you speak casually with us? We're all asking. Please don't keep using formal speech."
I stared at So-ra's face, and as if to show she was serious, she nodded her head.
The other women joined in, insisting that now that we were all in the same raid party, the first thing I should do was stop speaking so formally.
There were five of them, so even one comment apiece was enough to make my head spin.
"And we're all residents of this neighborhood. We have a rough idea of where you're staying too, Raid Leader."
"All right, I'll speak casually. First, we need to decide where to live, so each of you should think about what location would be best. We'll decide by tomorrow and start moving immediately. Second, four more people may join us. You heard the general story from Seon-yeong earlier, right?"
They all nodded, apparently having gotten a rough idea of the story about the people from the client company.
"Whatever those people decide, we'll be choosing the residence ourselves, so just think about that and let's meet up tomorrow. Those are the two main points. We should head back now; we still have to visit the other group before it gets any later."
"Okay, got it. And how should we address you? Would it be fine to just call you Raid Leader?"
"Ah... Let's decide on that tomorrow too."
I gathered Seon-yeong and Ga-yeong, exchanged farewells with the others, and left the apartment.
Anyway, the matter of how to address me was a problem.
"Why do you hate Raid Leader so much?"
"I mean, because it's embarrassing? But while it felt incredibly humiliating at first, now that I keep hearing it, I'm starting to think it might not be so bad. I don't know anymore."
"How about you just tell people to call you whatever's most comfortable?"
"Mister, what about me?"
"Mm... Ga-yeong, you can call me whatever you like. But even after the others join us and we all start living together, my relationship with them will still be different from what I have with you two. It might be best if they all use the same form of address."
"Okay, hee-hee... I'm gonna keep calling you mister."
"Then there's nothing else besides Raid Leader. Let's just go with Kim Tae-sik's Raid Party. I feel like I won't be able to get any other name to roll off my tongue now."
It seemed like this whole thing had gotten off on the wrong foot.
Anyone else who heard it would probably take me for a hopeless gaming addict—or cringe themselves to death.
I figured Seon-yeong and the other women were totally fine with the Raid Leader title.
It wasn't important, so we decided that if no other term came to mind by tomorrow, we'd just go with that, and we headed toward the client company's officetel.
"Sir, you've returned. Phew, looks like you've killed a lot again today."
"Ah, I'm sorry. It must be unpleasant having me walk into your home looking like this."
"Not at all. This is normal by now, isn't it? In any case, what brings all three of you here?"
I explained to Manager Lee everything that had happened up to now.
As we talked, I noticed that Manager Lee was remarkably expressive.
I didn't mention what state the women were in when we rescued them, but the moment I said they'd been imprisoned by some men, he flew into a rage.
"So, Manager Lee, I came to ask whether you and your group might consider joining us. You already have a good place here, so I'm also perfectly happy to continue as we're and help each other when needed."
"I see. This isn't a matter I can decide on my own, so could you give me just a little time?"
Just by looking at his expression, I couldn't tell whether Manager Lee was leaning toward yes or no.
In any case, he said he'd think on it for a day and come to a decision, so we arranged to meet again tomorrow, and we returned home.
"Whoa, it's already dark out. Why is time so tight today?"
"Well, a lot happened today. There doesn't seem to be a single easy day... and every one of them feels so long."
"Right, do we even have a single day off? Ah, my arms hurt. My shoulders hurt too. Right, Ga-yeong?"
"Yeah, after coming home, I suddenly started aching. I guess all the tension just let go..."
"Let's wash up quickly and eat. After dinner, I'll work on the worst knots again. Looks like we're putting off cleaning the apartment one more time."
"Ah, right... But you need to relax too. Your body seems fine, so think of it as unwinding while you massage a couple of women."
"Seon-yeong... You don't have to put it that way. I was going to do it anyway, so just... honestly."
"Ho ho ho ho, was that too much? Anyway, I'm counting on you, bachelor. We'll wash up first!"
Her acting more and more sly by the day made me think her true personality was only now coming out.
They said every woman put on a certain amount of coyness. Perhaps the Seon-yeong I thought I knew had been putting on an act all along.