Chapter 162: How to Maintain Peace with Words
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 162: How to Maintain Peace with Words
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Gunfire echoed loudly in all directions.
People spilling out onto the road were instantly cut down by a merciless hail of bullets from a dozen or so shooters.
Standing safely in the back, I fired toward the trajectories of the bullets coming from inside the building.
As long as I had "Hunting Expert," sniping me was practically impossible.
Within a certain range, I could see every single trajectory aimed at me or heading in this direction. How could they possibly hit me?
Besides, they didn't even have that many guns.
A few held by the people guarding the barricades.
And maybe two or three from the top of the building.
Once I shot those down, no more bullet trajectories appeared.
No one else was coming out, either.
A brief lull ensued.
Unless they were idiots, they wouldn't dare step outside while bullets were flying.
We advanced.
The first thing we encountered was the Lotte World building.
Standing at the main entrance, I pulled out a megaphone.
"Leader of this faction, come out. I want to talk."
"..."
No answer came.
"I'll give you five minutes. If you don't show, we're storming the place."
With that, I pulled the pin on a grenade and tossed it toward the entrance.
Instantly, amid a flurry of panicked shouts, an explosion erupted at the entrance.
Kaboom!
Before the five minutes were even up, a man walked out with his hands raised, claiming to be the leader.
"I'm Kang Ha-soo, the Lotte World Manager."
"Are you the one in charge here?"
"Yes. You can speak to me. May I ask how you got here?"
"I walked."
The moment I answered, the Lotte World Manager's face went blank, and chuckles erupted from the hunting squad behind me.
"...Then, what brings you here...?"
I meant it as a joke, but instead of laughing, his face froze solid. Well, given the circumstances, I suppose I should be understanding.
I shot a question back at the guy who had the nerve to ask two questions in a row.
"I came because I have business. But are you really the one in charge?"
"Yes. You can speak to m—"
"Do you know what 'in charge' actually means?"
"Well..."
Being in charge means you hold the ultimate decision-making power for this faction.
In other words, the person who can fully take responsibility for accepting or rejecting whatever proposal I make during this conversation.
"Shall we test it? I'm going to make a proposal. What's the total population of your faction right now?"
"...It's about 430 people."
"Ah, bummer. Doesn't even break a thousand."
And here I thought they had a massive crowd.
Well, since the threshold for a medium faction is 1,000 people, it's safe to say there are barely any groups that size right now.
Unless it's a cult with a rock-solid foundation from the very beginning.
"Ninety percent of 430 is 387. Pay for five weeks of Paradise Level 2 Membership for 387 people right now. Do that, and I'll leave."
"..."
"To help you with the math, that's 200 coins per person for 387 people. It comes out to about 78,000 coins."
"Are you from Paradise?"
"Unfortunately, we cannot sign up for the Paradise Membership. We already tried, but it was impossible..."
"Here. Now you can."
I pulled out a stack of membership invitation cards and tossed them over.
His face practically screamed, What kind of bullshit is this when I just said we can't? But remembering the gun barrels pointed at him, the Lotte World Manager picked up the cards and pulled one out.
"It doesn't wo... Oh."
I saw the 200 coins get deducted, completing his five-week Level 2 Membership registration.
"..."
His face instantly stiffened.
Now that he confirmed it worked, he realized the only thing left was to make a decision.
I graciously helped him make up his mind.
"Since you were planning on signing up anyway, this is perfect. I solved your problem, so you'll sign up now, right?"
"But signing up that many people is difficult. Not only are our saved coins insufficient..."
"So, that's a no?"
There were only two answers I wanted to hear.
Yes or no.
The Lotte World Manager gasped as I cut him off.
Because before he knew it, I had drawn my pistol, cocked it, and aimed it straight at his head.
Say one more word.
The only words left for you are exactly two.
Under the silent pressure, the Lotte World Manager finally bowed his head.
"Could you give us a little time? This isn't something I can decide on my—"
"So you weren't the one in charge? You lied to me?"
Bang!
I pulled the trigger even as the words left my mouth.
A hole opened in the Lotte World Manager's head, and he collapsed.
[Safe Base-Exclusive Quest 1-1]
- You have made a proposal to the small faction "Lotte World." The current total population of the "Lotte World" faction is 415.
- Quest Clear Conditions: Dismantling of the "Lotte World" faction OR Subjugation of the "Lotte World" faction (332 or more members signing up for 5 weeks of Level 1 Membership)
The clear condition was 80%, but even if I set it to 80%, they'd probably try to hold out and haggle like those Delivery Faction bastards did.
That was why I demanded 90% right from the start.
A white lie for everyone's benefit.
I picked up the megaphone again.
"Send out the real leader. If you send another nobody to waste my time, I will go in and kill ten of you for every minute of my time you waste."
At my signal, the hunting squad opened fire toward the windows where people were peeking out.
"Kyaaa!"
"Argh!"
"Take cover! Run!"
We didn't go in.
We didn't even move.
I just sat and waited on a chair brought out by the Eagle Five Squad.
This time, right at the five-minute mark, someone who actually looked like a leader walked out, panting heavily.
The newly reorganized Mode was definitely quite useful.
Grade A. Level 3.
An alphabetical grade, something unseen in the Zombie Apocalypse before.
According to the system messages, there were eight tiers: F, E, D, C, B, A, S, and SS. If this were before the reorganization, it would be equivalent to a Level 7 or 8 Mode.
His stats were quite high, so I figured a proper leader had finally stepped up.
Above all, considering the Lotte Tower right next door, anyone with a high status would likely be living there.
He looked like he had just rushed over from there in a panic.
"While you catch your breath, let me share some good news."
"...What is it?"
"Your faction currently has 415 members. Rounding it up, you only need 374 people to sign up. Since it's calculated based on your current population, the guy who just died saved you one spot. Great, right?"
"..."
"How do I know your total population? That's not really important, is it?"
"...No."
"The total is down to 75,000 coins. What's your move?"
"We will sign up. In exchange, can I assume you will stop here and leave?"
"Of course. Once you sign up for the membership, you're family. Why would I waste precious bullets raising hell here? I still have a long way to go."
"I will get started immediately."
This manager certainly knew how to get things done.
He took the cards and began distributing them, starting with himself.
The number of sign-ups rose rapidly.
I offered some advice to the manager, who looked anxious and burdened.
"Let me know if you're short on coins."
"Can you lower the amount?"
"Yeah. Since it's 90% of your current population, I can just kill off enough people to match whatever coins you're missing."
"...We will find a way to sign everyone up."
"Yawn."
It took less than thirty minutes for everyone to sign up.
As I thought, people only listen to reason when a suitable amount of force is applied.
"All 374 people have signed up."
"Welcome."
[Quest Complete!]
As the quest was completed, I could physically feel the Safe Base area expanding.
I could clearly feel the Level 10 stats of Base Invincibility, which had been temporarily deactivated, surging back up.
When I opened the Paradise Map, I confirmed that the Safe Base had expanded along Line 9 all the way to Hanseong Baekje Station, stretching up to the left of Asan Hospital.
They're giving me way more than I expected.
Whether it was because there were no other small factions along that line or because the rewards were just naturally generous, I was quite satisfied.
And all I did was drop by and make a simple proposal.
Well, this wasn't a bad outcome for them either.
"From now on, you'll have access to electricity, water, and heating services. You can also use our hospital or cafeteria whenever you visit Paradise. We'll be building a tram line from Paradise to here soon, so make sure the roads are clear. Oh, and Lotte World will have electricity too, so get it in working order. We'll be running it before long."
"..."
The reason I came to Lotte World first was, of course, because it was an amusement park.
An amusement park right in the middle of the city.
What is the most important thing in a zombie apocalypse?
If asked, users would undoubtedly say it was managing one's mental health.
No matter how safely you survive and farm food, if your mind breaks from loneliness and stress, everything collapses beyond recovery.
There are many ways to relieve stress, but the best way is to escape from the zombies and do something fun.
And I chose an amusement park as one of those options.
It wasn't too far from Seoul Forest Paradise, and since it was indoors, it was safe from zombies.
It was also a place where diverse people could gather and interact, making it quite suitable.
Of course, I couldn't rule out the possibility of the Lotte World faction refusing, but I hoped it wouldn't come to that.
Besides, this would be a decent deal for the Lotte World side too.
Just like with the Delivery Faction, I planned to give them a small cut of the profits.
Surely, having a job forced upon you is better than dying.
I stepped inside Lotte World.
The hunting squad followed close behind.
The manager asked in a fluster,
"Is there... anything else you need?"
"Ah, we're going to sleep here. The sun is setting soon, and you have a hotel here, don't you?"
"Yes... we do, but..."
"Don't you have rooms for a dozen or so of us?"
"...We do. I will have them ready immediately."
We headed toward the hotel, treating it as a preliminary inspection.
"Wow, I can't believe the day has come where I get to sleep here!"
"I've slept here before."
"With who?"
"With my mom and dad, you punk!"
"My bad."
The Eagle Five Squad chattered excitedly, while the Lotte World faction members kept their distance, watching us warily.
A strange, awkward tension hung in the air, but I paid it no mind.
The hotel was empty.
It didn't seem like it had been empty originally; seeing people stream out of the floor we were heading to, it looked like they were vacating it for us.
"They didn't have to clear out."
Just in case, I issued a warning.
"I'm a heavy sleeper, so I wouldn't even wake up if someone carried me away. But if you try to launch a surprise attack while we're sleeping, it could get really dangerous for you. I won't let it slide."
"..."
They wouldn't dare, right? I took the hotel room key, opened the door, and stepped inside.