The Worst First Impression
I have to get to the National Assembly Building.
To raise my odds of surviving, I need to wait there for the protagonist’s party.
Reaching the National Assembly means crossing Seogang Bridge, and crossing that bridge means clearing the quest that stops it from collapsing.
But stopping the collapse puts me on a collision course with the soldiers.
Later on, the protagonist’s group will clash with the military too, fight them head-on, and leave Yeouido for good. For now, though, they stand with the soldiers against outside threats.
Which means the first time I meet the protagonist’s party, there’s a high chance we’ll be enemies.
A terrible first impression.
Can I overcome that and join them cleanly? Or should I just sit on the bus and wait for them until the bridge blows?
That option costs me too much.
Every storyline I know becomes useless. Sure, I’ve already twisted the early plot into knots, but facing a situation I half-understand versus one I know nothing about is night and day.
And I need to enter Yeouido to use the shop that first appears there.
One way or another, Yeouido is critical. It carries massive weight early on. Even if they lose people, the protagonist’s group grows tremendously there. Stick close enough and, if nothing else, I can snag the same stat points they earn.
So Yeouido it is. I’ll deal with the fallout later.
“Hyung!!”
“Juhan!!”
“Follow me!!”
“Kraaaaaah!!!!!”
I poured on every bit of speed, vaulted onto a car roof, and used the momentum to sprint toward the trunk. Then I kicked the zombie in the chest with everything I had.
Thwack!!!!!
Jae-yeol and Su-ho weren’t calling out because of one measly zombie. The real problem was the gap. The cars that let us move safely through this horde were spaced too far apart. No matter how hard I ran, I couldn’t bridge the distance to the next one.
That single kick opened a new path.
Tap!!
I stomped the trunk and launched myself, landing on the raised arms of the zombies that had caught the one I’d kicked. Suicide on paper—except those arms were holding the body up like a platform.
“Guek!!”
I used its chest as a stepping stone and jumped again. The distant car’s hood caught my feet.
Thud!!
I glanced back just long enough to confirm Jae-yeol and Su-ho, then took a big step back.
Thud!!
I caught Jae-yeol the second he landed, hauled him onto the roof, and shouted,
“Su-ho, your Agility’s lower than mine!”
“Yes!!”
Jae-yeol swung his machete, carving through the zombies crowding the hood—just in case Su-ho couldn’t make the jump.
I flicked a quick look behind us. He’d made it, somehow. That didn’t mean we could safely reach the denser pack ahead, but it was something.
“Hah…! Hah…!”
I stopped long enough to catch my breath. Jae-yeol and Su-ho scrambled up beside me.
“Hyung…! Hah! Hah! Hah!”
“What now? Hah…!”
“Hooooooo….”
It felt like we’d come a long way, but the actual distance was maybe three hundred meters. We still had more than twice that left.
Three hundred meters in forty-nine seconds. Factor in the brief rest, the zombies we fought, and the hands snatching at us from the cars, and that pace was insane. We couldn’t keep it up.
Jae-yeol’s Stamina was the lowest at five; his breathing was ragged. Mine was only one higher and I’d just barely settled. Only Su-ho, at seven, still had a little gas left.
Should I burn Stat Amplification on Stamina? Or Agility again?
The buff lasts ten minutes; the cooldown is twenty. If I boost Stamina now, I can’t change my mind once we arrive. Boosting Agility feels just as risky—speed alone doesn’t cover more ground.
Watch a little longer. If we’re genuinely about to miss the timer, I’ll raise Stamina. Otherwise, Agility.
“Jae-yeol, can you run?”
“Yeah. Hoo…! Hoo…! Hoooo….”
“Any explanation would be—never mind. Later.”
I like both their personalities. They trust first and ask questions later.
Time to move again.
Tap!!
I’d wasted too much time catching my breath, but the rest let us hold the early pace for another hundred meters. After that the speed dropped hard, yet not enough to force a Stamina boost.
Then the sound finally rolled over us.
Dadadadadadadang!! Dadadang!!! Dadadang! Dadang!!! Dadadadadang!!!!
Gunfire whipped the zombies into a frenzy; they charged even harder toward Yeouido. But the horde started getting shoved backward. Bullets alone couldn’t push that many bodies. Something else was moving—the tanks that had been blocking the bridge.
Drrrrrr…!!! Drrrrrr…!!
Whether they were crushing zombies under their treads or simply rolling over cars, the tanks waddled closer like penguins. The distance we still had to cover shrank by the second.
“Keep running and listen! The soldiers are going to blow the bridge—just like Mapo Bridge!”
“Ah…!”
“The soldiers are blowing the bridge?? Why the hell would they do that?!”
“To stop the zombies coming across.”
“Then what about the people still over there?!”
“That’s why we stop them. Whatever the soldiers are about to do. They’re going to detonate any second. We’re out of time for real.”
The tanks closed the gap fast, but the clock was almost gone.
Barely a minute left. We couldn’t keep hopping car roofs toward the approaching tanks—the machine-gunners half-out of the hatches might decide we looked like targets.
“Scream!!”
“Over here!!! We’re people!!!!!”
“Don’t shoot!!! Survivors!!!!!”
“Stop firing!!!!!!”
We jumped up and down on the roofs, waving both arms. One of the four tanks cut its fire; the others followed.
“Survivors spotted!!!!!!”
“Let’s go.”
“Yes!”
“Right!”
We ran again, leaping car to car until the massive tanks loomed right in front of us. Then—
Tap!!!
I kicked off a trunk and landed on a tank’s hull.
“Hah…! Hah…!”
“This way! The bridge is about to blow!!”
“Come here! Hurry!!”
Soldiers behind the tanks waved frantically, shouting for us to climb down. Two of the quiet ones I already knew.
“Kang Juhan?”
Captain Son Gijun.
And the massive soldier pressed against the median barrier—Sergeant First Class Kim San.
I glanced left, then right, and gave Jae-yeol and Su-ho a small nod.
We didn’t sprint. We just matched the urgency in the soldiers’ voices.
(Su-ho right, Jae-yeol left, me center.)
I whispered it low enough that only we could hear, then carefully dropped off the tank and walked straight toward Kim San.
“Didn’t think you’d actually show.”
“Mapo Bridge went down. Getting back was a pain.”
“It was classified—hope you understand why we couldn’t warn you. This bridge is about to go too. Link up with the men in the rear and move out.”
“My people are still on the other side.”
“We have orders to demolish the bridge. If you want, we’ll give you time to go back across.”
“……”
Good thing I saved it.
Stat Amplification.
Stat Amplification
⚡ Strength:8 (+3)
🧠 Mental:8 (-3)
I activated the skill, then put on a panicked face, eyes darting side to side, and pointed with my raised left hand past Kim San’s cheek—toward empty air far away.
“Uh…? Wh-what’s that…?”
“……”
Wow. I sold that performance and he didn’t even blink?
His eyes stayed locked on me, half-lidded. The remaining time floated right in front of his face.
No choice left.
“Clench your teeth.”
“What are you talki—”
Kim San never finished the sentence.
Thwack!!!!
The broad entrenching tool smashed into his cheek. Guy’s built like a bear—had to hit that hard.
“Now!!!!”
On cue, Su-ho sprinted right; Jae-yeol vaulted the median and went left. I dropped, snatched the bomb blinking red under the barrier, and twisted toward Su-ho—closer that way.
I rose with the turn, arm whipping over my shoulder. The heavy bomb left my hand.
The bomb arced away while the numbers kept falling.
“Su-ho, get down!!!!!”
I dropped low the same way he flattened himself, but instead of going fully prone I let the shovel fall and stretched my right hand toward Kim San’s belt—where he hung draped over the median like laundry.
Grab!
Click—
I yanked the pistol free, planted my left hand on the barrier, and vaulted over.
Success rewards have been issued.
Acquired: Conflict with the Yeouido Military
Look at that reward…!
And the gods are all complete lunatics, aren’t they?!
What if that thing had actually gone off while we were still on the bridge?!
The soldiers hadn’t even armed the charges yet!!!
KRAAAAAAAAAAANG!!!!!!!!!!!
FWAAAAAAAAASH!!!!!!!!
FWAAAAAAAAASH!!!!!!!!
The bomb I’d thrown—already a little below bridge level—and the three Jae-yeol and Su-ho had already hurled into the Han River detonated together, armed or not. The bridge shook like an earthquake. Twin columns of water shot skyward on both sides, then gravity dragged them back down in a rain of spray.
Click!
I had the pistol leveled at Captain Son Gijun’s forehead.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“I told you my people were still over there.”
I hadn’t planned it, but the short exchange with Kim San had given me just enough justification. And honestly, if we hadn’t thrown those bombs, everyone here would be dead. Not that these guys would ever accept that.
“You even know how to fire that?”
A little provocation from Son Gijun. I thumbed the safety off with a downward flick.
“Try to understand.”
“Understand what, exactly?”
“If you’d just said you’d help my people… or even that you’d wait… I wouldn’t have thrown the bombs.”
“You threw them over something that small?”
“That small? More than ten lives are ‘that small’ to Captain Son Gijun?”
“That was the last charge we had.”
“……”
“You just wasted our final chance to seal this bridge. You put over a thousand people at risk for a little more than ten. Do you understand that?”
“Did you arm them? If they went off without being armed, then we just saved everyone here.”
“You didn’t save anyone. Those are sensitive munitions.”
“You’re saying we set them off by throwing them?”
“I’m saying that could have been the cause.”
When he puts it like that, I’ve got nothing…
More importantly—what is he looking at right now?
“These aren’t the people we saw last time.”
“……”
Not the people from last time?
There’s someone else here besides us?
I want to turn around. I want to check behind me. I want to see with my own eyes whatever Son Gijun is staring at.
How the hell did Kim San keep a straight face through this?!
“Hands up and turn around.”
“……”
The moment Son Gijun raised both hands and turned, I locked my left arm around his neck and pressed the muzzle to the back of his skull. Using him as a shield against every rifle pointed our way, I finally spun and looked.
I couldn’t stand not knowing.
“Ah….”
What the hell?
When did they get here?
Does the timeline even allow this?
This isn’t a buff—this is straight-up teleportation!!
“……”
“……”
“……”
“……”
“……”
“……”
Six people stood on the tank behind us, staring at me with pure wariness.
People who were supposed to come here eventually—but who had no business being here at this exact moment.
And why six?
It should be five.
The webtoon’s protagonist, Baek Sihyeon’s party, arrives in Yeouido as five.
Well… five or six…
Either way, this is the worst first impression imaginable.