Chapter 91
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: The Abandoned Stronghold
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I assigned Lee Seoyoon the task of freely manipulating the small amount of demonic energy I'd given her as homework.
I instructed her to cultivate it to the point where she could store it inside her body, draw it out under her own control, and then put it back in to save it again.
After all, black magic starts with harboring demonic energy in your body and manifesting it from there.
In my view, the hardest part here is drawing the demonic energy out of your body after harboring it and then recovering it.
Demonic energy that slips out of the body has a tendency to vanish in an instant if you can't control it properly, so beginners who first try handling it burn through their supply without ever landing a single proper black magic spell.
That was something even I went through when I first arrived in that other world, but the real problem was resupplying the lost demonic energy—by hunting monsters—which made it tough to devote pure time to practice.
You'd burn through your demonic energy during practice and have to head out hunting again.
Of course, there's no need for Lee Seoyoon to go through the same struggles I did, so I'll supply her with plenty of demonic energy for practice.
I'll condense it into makeshift magic stones, so even when I'm away, she can practice on her own with the demonic energy stored inside them.
After watching Lee Seoyoon practice controlling the demonic energy with a serious look on her face, I got up to handle my own business.
"While I'm gone, practice handling that demonic energy thoroughly. That's the only way you'll advance to the next stage."
"Yes, Master. Take care."
I stepped out the door with Lee Seoyoon seeing me off.
Now seemed like a good time to do some zombie hunting and head to the place she mentioned.
The target Lee Seoyoon wanted revenge on was a woman named Joo Hyeri, the ringleader who had tormented her relentlessly back in high school.
The spot where Joo Hyeri was presumed to be staying wasn't far from where Lee Seoyoon had been found, so I figured I could instant-transmit to the large supermarket I'd designated as an additional zone yesterday and go from there.
The scenery around me changed in a flash, and I dashed toward the target location.
If Joo Hyeri was still at the place I was heading, I planned to approach her directly.
I'd deliberately get close, meet Joo Hyeri, and stick around under the pretext of protecting her until Lee Seoyoon could exact her revenge personally.
She'd probably accept me if I showed off just a bit of my power to her and the people around her.
Even if she didn't, I'd keep a close eye on Joo Hyeri to make sure no accidents happened.
I couldn't just let her get taken out by some random thug.
Besides, it was all to complete Lee Seoyoon's revenge.
In this zombie apocalypse world, which was only going to get harder to survive in thanks to my interventions, letting her live comfortably at first only to plunge her into the abyss later—wouldn't that satisfy Lee Seoyoon?
I believe true revenge is dropping someone from the heights of heaven straight into the pits of hell.
Speaking of revenge, a target I wanted to screw over did come to mind...
But that's a matter for later.
I can't do anything about it right now anyway.
As I pondered how to handle it while moving, I arrived near the location Lee Seoyoon had described.
But... it feels like there's no one around?
If people were living here, I should've sensed some signs of life, but there's nothing.
I'd heard Joo Hyeri was living safely without lifting a finger, thanks to the organization led by her dad.
Her father was involved in organized crime, and when the zombie apocalypse hit, he'd quickly rallied his group into a powerful faction.
Apparently, he'd grown fast by clearing nearby zombies with illegal guns he had on hand.
I'd assumed that organization was still here, but the vibe upon arrival suggested otherwise.
To figure out what was going on, I called the phone I'd given Lee Seoyoon earlier, and it connected right away.
"Hey, I'm at the spot you told me about, but it looks like no one's here. You sure you gave me the right place?"
"That can't be... From what I heard, Joo Hyeri was definitely there."
Her confident tone made it seem unlikely she'd misremembered.
Then, on a hunch, I asked one more thing.
"By the way, when exactly did you hear this info?"
"Well... it was around the day I met those two people, before the zombie wave. Probably then."
Ah, now I get why the info was off.
That was a week ago from now.
A week's time means the intel was bound to lose accuracy.
I told Lee Seoyoon to focus on the practice I'd assigned her and hung up.
I started worrying that maybe everyone here had died during the zombie wave.
They'd built a pretty strong organization, so I figured they'd survive the wave, but what if they'd been wiped out?
That would suck.
To confirm exactly what happened, I entered the building where Joo Hyeri was supposed to be living.
If they really were dead, I figured it came down to one of two possibilities.
First was the obvious: getting swept away by the zombie wave and all dying.
Even a strong group couldn't handle the zombies' buffs during the wave.
Plus, new mutant zombies had appeared.
So they might not have held off the horde, letting zombies breach and killing everyone.
But inspecting the building, that didn't seem to be the case.
From the entrance inward, most things were too intact for a zombie horde attack.
And looking around, there wasn't even a single drop of blood.
Impossible if anyone had been injured in a zombie assault.
So it wasn't the zombies.
That left the second possibility.
Everyone here had moved somewhere else before the zombie wave started.
And that seemed to fit—a thin layer of dust on windowsills and tables, as if announcing the week that had passed.
Deeper inside, people's clothes and food supplies were completely gone.
Even in what looked like an armory, not a single weapon in sight.
They'd really abandoned this place and moved on.
"Sigh, now how am I supposed to track them down."
If I had a tracking spell, I'd have found them ages ago, but sadly, no such thing.
So I'd have to leg it out manually to find Joo Hyeri, but with no clue which direction they'd gone, I was stumped.
Hoping for any hint of where they'd headed, I searched the building top to bottom.
But anything useful or relevant was gone—they'd taken it all.
At this rate, I'd have to comb the entire Seoul area to find them?
The problem was, even that might not work.
At least if they'd moved somewhere safe, that'd be fortunate...
But if they'd gotten jumped by zombies en route and died, no way to track them.
Hell, it'd be hard to even confirm they'd been wiped out.
And in this changed world, zombies aren't the only threat.
Humans will attack other humans for their own gain, so they could've been killed by raiders instead.
"Where the hell did they go? Can't you leave a damn hint?"
Muttering to myself as I roamed the building, the noise even drew some zombies, annoying me.
Time passed, and around evening, while rummaging through a desk, I found something useful.
"This... a map?"
No idea why it was in the desk, but it was clearly a map of Seoul and the Gyeonggi area.
What stood out was the notes and lines marking what looked like travel routes.
I figured they were routes because there were multiple traces of considerations for different paths.
At first I wondered why bother marking on a map, but then it hit me—post-apocalypse, no GPS, so they had to navigate manually.
No more easy navigation apps; now it was paper maps and planning paths by hand.
One end of the lines pointed to this very building.
So the other end had to be the destination—and that's what intrigued me.
The presumed destination marked on the map was Yeouido.
These people had apparently left before the zombie wave and headed to Yeouido.
Something Sohee said before came to mind.
Someone had come asking if they wanted to join them in Yeouido.
Maybe someone similar had come here too?
"Yeouido, huh... I was planning to head there anyway. Perfect."
I had a ton on my plate already, and this was like the world handing me a twofer.
So my next stop: Yeouido, the so-called paradise.