Lee Yeonghun's Rage

They had guns, but they weren't wearing military uniforms.

That almost certainly meant they were people who'd seized firearms and fled after the firefight that had broken out at the National Assembly not long ago.

Were they a new resistance force? Or just people who'd gone out looking for their own way to survive?

Either way, it didn't matter much.

What mattered right now was that they were pointing guns at us, trying to take what we had.

And they weren't even afraid to do it.

"What are you standing around staring for?! You wanna die—"

"Mister?"

"Mister??"

Baek Sihyeon tilted his head as he looked at the armed men, and I tilted my head right back as I looked at Baek Sihyeon.

"S-Sihyeon…"

"What are you guys doing out here??"

"Don't tell me it was you hyungs? That firefight??"

"Ah… well…"

It wasn't just Baek Sihyeon.

Everyone seemed to know them.

"Sihyeon… you know these people…?"

"Yes, noona. We've run operations with them several times. They're not dangerous."

"Ah…"

Even after Baek Sihyeon's reassurance that they weren't a threat, Jihye couldn't quite wipe the unease from her face.

The muzzles were still pointed at us, after all.

And then it happened.

A word none of us had expected to hear.

"Uncle?"

"Uncle…?"

"Uncle??"

"Uncle?"

Everyone turned to stare at Yeonghun.

Then a man stepped out from among the armed group.

"Yeonghun-ah…"

"Uncle!!"

A sudden family reunion, out of nowhere?

It wasn't an impossible situation, but was this really a coincidence?

Of course not.

This world had been built by a perverted god, after all.

What the hell was he scheming this time?

"I'm sorry, Uncle! I should have contacted you, but I was so out of it myself…"

"Yeonghun-ah…"

"What's wrong, Uncle…? Are you hurt?? Are you injured??"

"Hyeonji…"

"Hyeonji… what about Hyeonji?!"

"Hyeonji…!!"

"What is it?! What about Hyeonji?!!"

"Hyeonji…. Hic!! Huuuk…!"

A grown man collapsed onto the ground and let thick tears fall one after another.

Yeonghun shouted for him to tell him what had happened, and the people who'd been glaring at us with murderous eyes lowered their guns and hung their heads.

And so we moved to a new location together with the armed group.

The safe zone of the store could no longer protect us.

"KRAAAAH!!!!"

"KRAAAAAH!!!!"

"KRAAH!!!!"

"KRAAAAAAH!!!!"

"KRAAAAH!!!!"

In the original webtoon's scenario, the resistance attacked Baek Sihyeon's group while they were carrying out operations with the soldiers, and that was how the full-scale confrontation took shape.

If it had just been an attack, people might have wondered why. But in the resistance's first ambush, some of the people who'd come to Yeouido with Suho were shot and killed.

After that, the question of why a group called the resistance had formed, or why people were willing to fight the soldiers to the death, stopped mattering.

Especially once the soldiers themselves started describing the resistance as a cruel, selfish band of looters.

But there had always been a clear reason the resistance was born.

Kim Jincheol's group, who should have become the resistance, and these people as well.

"Ah…!"

"Hup..!!"

"Eup!!"

"Oh no…"

"……"

At the sight of the horrific corpse laid out on the floor, the men clamped their mouths shut, and the women covered their mouths or turned their heads away.

A face bruised and swollen beyond recognition, bruises covering the stomach and sides as well.

Clear signs of a severe beating.

Her face was so swollen that even her cousin Yeonghun couldn't recognize his little sister's face.

"Is that… Hyeonji…?"

"I…!! I should have protected her….!! Because she had a worthless father… hic..!"

Yeonghun's fists were trembling.

No—his entire body was shaking with rage.

Even his close friends, seeing him like this for the first time, couldn't bring themselves to offer careless words of comfort.

"Who did this?"

"Those soldier bastards..!!"

"It wasn't just Miss Hyeonji. Those sons of bitches did this more than once or twice. And that wasn't all they did."

Among the people who'd evacuated to the National Assembly, any man who wasn't a child or an elderly person was conscripted into the military under the mobilization order.

Every operation carried risk, and deaths occurred at a very high rate.

A daughter who'd lost her father. A wife who'd lost her husband. A little sister who'd lost her older brother. An older sister who'd lost her younger brother. A girlfriend who'd lost her boyfriend.

Women who'd suddenly lost the people they could rely on, the people who would protect them, became targets for the soldiers.

No—not just the soldiers.

They became targets for any men starving for women.

"Then why Hyeonji..!!"

"I don't know. Whether they thought Dongmyeong was dead, or whether they just decided there was nothing left to hold them back…"

"What happened to those people?!"

Huijin, who anyone could see was clearly interested in Yeonghun, couldn't hold back her anger and shouted.

But the answer that came back was outrageous.

"They said they'd give them a warning."

"Does that make any sense?!"

"Someone died and all they get is a warning?!"

"She went through something like that and died so painfully… so terrified… so unfairly…. How can they do that!!!"

The three college girls were especially worked up.

Of course they were.

They were women too.

And a high school girl had been subjected to that by five men and lost her life because of it.

But it wasn't only Yeonghun, Huijin, Seonye, and Jeongyeon who were furious.

"Hyungs, you're thinking the same thing we are, right?"

"Obviously."

"Wipe them all out. The same way."

"……"

"Juhan hyung."

This wasn't a question I could answer as easily as Suho and Gihun.

The other side had guns.

They had more guns, more ammunition, and more manpower.

That was why the resistance had ultimately lost, and why even after Baek Sihyeon's group clashed with the soldiers in the final Yeouido episode, they'd still had to flee Yeouido in the end.

No matter how strong you got, fighting an army with guns was too much.

But I had to do it.

Because this was a quest I couldn't possibly refuse.

Can you please make the penalties and rewards match in severity for once!!!!!

Get shot to death?

Or lose the ten party members I'd raised this far, plus stats and skills?

Having no choice but to accept this absurd quest made me furious.

What made me even angrier was that this wasn't some black quest handed down by that perverted god—it was a regular blue quest.

"Even a normal quest is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this bullshit…"

"What?"

"……"

"Wh-what?! Why are you looking at me like that?! It's creepy!"

I pulled Gihun into a fierce hug under my affectionate gaze.

"Gihun-ah, you're all I've got."

"Shut up! You crazy bastard!! Let go of me already?! Did you eat something weird?!"

He cursed, but Gihun was still all I had.

No, wait.

Was this guy just excluded because, like me, he was a Stranger who didn't exist in this world?

When Jaeyeol had asked if they were thinking the same thing, Suho and Gihun had answered without even taking a breath that they should wipe them all out.

"Gihun-ah."

"What?"

"What were you planning to do if I said I wouldn't help?"

"What do you mean, what? I'd have punched you once and gone to help Yeonghun with the kids."

"……"

So that was it after all.

He'd been left out of the quest failure penalties because he was a Stranger like me.

And regardless of being left out, he would have acted together with the others anyway.

"Anyway, what are we going to do now? We can't just charge into the National Assembly and demand they hand over the bastards who killed Yeonghun's cousin."

"I know… let's think about how to handle this…"

There had already been one firearms seizure incident with Kim Jincheol's group, and even though security had been tightened that very day, a doctor had still been kidnapped.

And then another firearms seizure had escalated into a full firefight.

Just entering the National Assembly, where the soldiers would be on high alert, was already a dangerous situation—and the ones who'd beaten and gang-raped Yeonghun's cousin were five people.

Was that why they'd given me five whole days?

To take my time solving it?

Damn ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it, how thoughtful of them.

"Jeongcheol hyung, what operations were they running at the National Assembly until recently? Not counting the department store."

"Survivor rescue, food procurement, securing daily necessities including medicine. They just kept repeating the same operations. Oh, and clearing out National Assembly Station."

Same as what I already knew.

Then for now, the only option was to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠check whether the perpetrators were among the soldiers every time they went out on an operation.

"Survivor rescue, my ass..!"

"Huh..?"

"Why?! So you can rescue survivors and do the same goddamn things to them again?!"

"Hey, why are you taking it out on me? We just did what we were ordered to…"

"I'm not yelling at you, hyung..!! Hoo…. It's just so ridiculous it makes me angry… I'm sorry.."

"I really don't get it! You say you're saving people?! Then why don't you protect the people you save?!"

"That, even I…"

As Lee Jeongcheol struggled for an answer to Seonye's difficult question, someone else spoke up in his place.

"The people who get rescued are protected. People like us just don't get that protection."

"What?? What do you mean by that?"

It was the middle-aged man who'd pointed a gun at us and shouted that he was going to take what we had.

Apparently, when they'd seen us coming out of the department store the soldiers had entered, they'd assumed we were on the same side and tried to rob us.

Not a reason I particularly found convincing, but whatever.

"Until now, the people who've been rescued have been the families and relatives of chaebols, National Assembly members, and high-ranking officers. Or maybe just people they know."

"That's ridiculous! Do you know how many people are out there begging for help?!"

"We didn't know either. Someone told us."

"Who…"

"It's been a while, everyone."

"Huh?? Military noona!"

"Unnie!!"

It was that nursing officer from before.

Lieutenant Kim Mihi, the medical officer who'd been with Captain Son Gijun and Sergeant First Class Kim San.

Had she joined the resistance too?

"How's your back, Mingu-ssi?"

"Yes! It's completely fine now!"

"And your shoulder, Gihun-ssi?"

"I'm fine too. But how are you here?"

"Well… I just couldn't take it anymore."

Lieutenant Kim Mihi explained in greater detail what had been happening at the National Assembly.

"The military made a promise to people. Follow the military's command and carry out operations faithfully, and we'll protect your families, rescue them, and help them. But the military broke that promise. They never intended to keep it in the first place. The medicine and food people risked their lives to bring back are distributed unfairly under military control, and they don't rescue ordinary citizens' families—only the rich and powerful. On top of that, they took no measures whatsoever for the sick. 'There's nothing we can do. We don't have the capacity. Wait a little longer. Your turn will come soon.' They just string people along with hope while making excuses."

"Those bastards…!"

"In the end, the people who faithfully followed military orders are still being deceived, still dying, and their families are being ignored, abandoned, and even subjected to unspeakable acts."

"Then why do people still follow the soldiers' orders?!"

"Because there's no other option. Because the military is the only thing they can trust and rely on. And because if they don't follow orders, they can't even get the food and medicine they were receiving. They don't have the courage to leave the National Assembly either. So they're just enduring it because they have no choice."

At Lieutenant Kim Mihi's words, everyone must have made a silent resolution.

To get stronger.

To gain the power so they would never suffer something so unjust again.

"I'm sorry, Juhan-ssi. And I'm truly sorry, everyone."

"Why are you suddenly apologizing?"

"I really didn't know… that they were going to blow up Mapo Bridge…"

"Ah… is that why there was friction with the soldiers?"

"You saw…?"

"I didn't see it myself. I heard about it."

I knew that right before Mapo Bridge was destroyed, Lieutenant Kim Mihi had been subdued by two soldiers.

I'd heard it live from Kwon Suhyeok, who'd been watching through the drone Lee Seongho had sent up.

"I knew you were coming to Yeouido… so I tried somehow to stop it… but it wasn't enough…"

"It's fine. We made it here either way."

"And… I couldn't rescue the people at that apartment either… I kept requesting it, but…"

Come to think of it, I hadn't heard from Lee Seongho or Kwon Suhyeok.

Had something happened?

I'd have to give them a call once this conversation was over.

"Then what do you plan to do now, Lieutenant?"

"I… no, we want to help people. We want to help them so they no longer have to endure unfair treatment and be used, so they can protect themselves and survive."

Several soldiers who'd come inside with Lieutenant Kim Mihi had resolute light in their eyes.

Then Suho, looking at them with a hint of distrust, asked,

"But why do the other soldiers just sit there even though they know this unfair situation is continuing?"

"Because the treatment for soldiers is good. They get plenty of food, their families get rescued, they get medicine first. And… even if they do things like that, it just gets brushed aside."

"Then should we assume all the soldiers still left at the National Assembly are the same?"

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

"I'm asking if they're people we can just kill."

"Ah… that..!"

"They won't all be the same. There will definitely be soldiers who think like us."

As another soldier answered in place of Lieutenant Kim Mihi, I raised my hand and raised an objection.

"If you think like that, you die. You know that better than anyone as soldiers. It doesn't matter if we hesitate on our side—the other side will pull the trigger. So get your positions straight first. Otherwise, we'll operate separately from all of you."

"…Yes, understood."

Once the conversation ended, I tried calling Lee Seongho and Kwon Suhyeok.

But neither of them picked up.

"Something must have happened…?"

"We can only hope not. More importantly, things are going to get really dangerous from here on. The enemies we'll be facing are soldiers with guns."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Yeah!"

"Yes, hyung."

"Understood, oppa."

"So are we starting right away?"

"We have to start."

"But hyung…"

"What?"

"Are we really going to the department store..?"

I nodded at Mingu's question.

We'd start looking there.

Captain Son Gijun and the soldiers, and the people trapped inside.

The platoon-sized force being sent in to rescue them.

Whether the perpetrators were among them, and whether they knew what was going on.

"Are you going to kill him? He did save our lives once."

"Depends."

If he knew and was still looking the other way.

If the perpetrators were there and he was trying to protect them.

Then there would be no choice.

You couldn't fight soldiers with guns while still trying to show them consideration.