Chapter 166: Paradise Beggars Execution Ceremony
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 166: Paradise Beggars Execution Ceremony
[Event Quest 5]
– A group causing a disturbance in Paradise's "Cafeteria" has been subdued. Although they were shot dead immediately, the minor commotion and disturbance have caused stress among your faction members. Resolve the issue to restore stability to your faction.
– Reward: 5 Points, Normal Mode Level Selection Ticket (★) x10, Safe Base-Exclusive Defense Turret (4★) x5
I was in the middle of leisurely expanding our safe bases, shooting the breeze with the other factions who had obediently opened their gates to us, when this quest popped up. I immediately contacted Kim Ji-hee.
Kim Ji-hee reported the incident in a rather nonchalant tone.
"There was a disturbance in the cafeteria. We killed all six of them with the defense turrets, and there were no casualties on our side."
"Good job."
"I'm sorry, Oppa. I should have paid closer attention to prevent something like this from happening..."
"No, don't be."
I stopped Kim Ji-hee, who was apologizing with a downcast expression.
"You did great. You've learned well, haven't you? In this kind of work, you're supposed to let things escalate before you resolve them."
"...But Sei-onni was in danger."
"It's fine. You're the Saintess."
"Well, that's..."
"As long as you're in a position to administer immediate first aid, no one is going to die. Just make sure you don't get killed instantly yourself. If something like this happens again, drag it out as much as possible, then wrap it up at the most dramatic moment. Got it?"
"...Yes."
"Besides, it's not like you can prevent these things. There are way too many of those beggar bastards out there. If you try to anticipate every single one of them, you'll lose your hair from the stress."
I explained and persuaded Kim Ji-hee as gently as possible.
I've heard rumors floating around that I'm a psycho or that I treat my women like cum dumpsters. While that's technically true, it's not like I treat absolutely everyone besides myself as subhuman.
Of course, there was no denying that this was also partly training for the sake of the quest.
But then again, I wasn't wrong.
Preventing this kind of thing?
In a zombie apocalypse, that's flat-out impossible.
If you try to prevent every scenario and act with extreme caution, you won't be able to get anything done in Paradise.
Didn't I fall into that exact dilemma myself, making a massive fuss when going to the Yongsan US Military Base, before finally finding my way back to my original mindset?
Not that being cautious is bad, but someone like me, who is practically dripping in cheat modes, has no need for it.
Setting things up so we only avoid the absolute worst-case scenario when an incident occurs, and then dealing with the aftermath, can be a form of prevention in its own right.
Even now, she said it was dangerous, but in the end, not a single truly perilous situation arose, and it wrapped up nicely.
Even if Oh Se-i and the other Paradise Membership members had been taken hostage and injured, the outcome wouldn't have changed.
The defense turrets would have fired, and Kim Ji-hee would have saved them immediately with her healing skill.
She might not have been able to save all three of them.
Because of her limited mana.
But she would have saved Oh Se-i, at the very least.
To be honest, I couldn't care less what happened to the other members.
"If you ever find yourself in danger, don't worry too much. Even if you don't manually control the defense turrets, they're programmed to open fire automatically if any threat to a resident's safety occurs within their range."
"Oh, really? But nothing happened when I had that scuffle with someone in front of the cafeteria..."
"That's because it wasn't a threat severe enough to incapacitate you."
"Ah! That's true. He just shoved me a little."
"In those situations, you should just grab their wrist, break their arm, or choke them to death."
"...I'll try."
"Still, you did well. The defense turrets are Paradise's weapons, so make good use of them. That's how you actually prevent things."
"Yes! Oppa, when are you coming back?"
"Me? Around tomorrow?"
"I miss you."
A smile naturally crept onto my face at her words as she slightly lowered her head.
Is this how a man feels when he heads home after a hard day's work?
A feeling I, who had never once stepped outside to work in my entire life, had never known.
It wasn't bad.
I gathered the resting members of the Hunting Squad.
"You've probably heard, but some beggar bastards caused a ruckus back in Paradise. We've been gone for a few days, so maybe word got out, or maybe another faction intervened targeting that window. Who knows."
"..."
Naturally, Oh Yoon-seop, whose daughter was directly involved, had the darkest expression.
However, no one spoke up to comment on the situation.
"For the most part, Paradise will remain empty in the future. Even if the Hunting Squad grows, you guys are here to hunt. The defense turrets are more than enough to protect Paradise. But we still need to train those beggar bastards so they don't get cocky and act out of line, right?"
Oh Yoon-seop asked.
"Should we clear out the surrounding areas first?"
"No. We can't just kill people at random."
I opened the Paradise Map and pulled up a list of names.
"The people who were there. Anyone who has caused even the slightest disturbance in Paradise since we've been gone. Round them all up."
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The moment I returned to Paradise, I was busy.
Without showing a hint of exhaustion, the Hunting Squad set out to capture the people marked on the map, while I called Oh Se-i.
Actually, I didn't call her; Oh Se-i had requested a meeting.
"What is it?"
"I'm sorry. Because I got caught..."
"You did well. You followed the manual, didn't you?"
It wasn't as if Paradise had an actual crisis management manual printed out.
But every now and then, when the non-combatants gathered, I would tell them:
If something happens and you aren't in a position to overpower them, just let yourself be captured.
Observe the situation, buy time, and create a scenario where you can call in someone in charge.
In the situation a few days ago, Kim Ji-hee was the one in charge, and other than her, there was Oh Yoon-seop or the Hunting Squad—people who could actually resolve the situation.
Oh Se-i had simply followed that protocol.
"I felt like I could have easily subdued one or two of them. But I was worried the other people captured with me would get hurt... so I made a choice that deviated from the manual."
"Hmm. I suppose so."
Of course, it wasn't a strict manual, so interpretations could vary, but Oh Se-i understood my intentions perfectly.
That was why she was saying this.
Ultimately, that protocol didn't take the safety of non-Paradise members into account.
Oh Se-i had a chance to escape on her own, and the other two hostages actually provided a more favorable condition for ensuring her own safety.
If she had escaped like that, there might have been zero chance of her being in danger.
Once she made it out the door, she would have been fine until Kim Ji-hee arrived.
"But you could have died in the process. What if the other four had abandoned the hostages and targeted you instead? So stop whining about useless things and do your job. Why do you think the person in charge is called the person in charge?"
They were cold words, but in truth, Oh Se-i was someone whose death wouldn't matter to me.
Level 3 Membership holders were necessary for Paradise, but they were also easily replaceable at any time.
Even Residents were just people with slightly higher value; in the end, they were merely numbers on a priority list when a crisis struck.
"...Yes. I understand."
If anything, Oh Se-i seemed to find a bit of comfort in those words.
Her presence had faded significantly after she went outside once, but since then, she had transitioned into a cat butler and seemed to be working hard to help her mother. It seemed she had been deeply worried about causing trouble for Paradise again.
Well, it wasn't my job to coddle her feelings.
By the next morning, about twenty of the people I had singled out had been dragged to the Paradise Intersection.
"Out of thirty-four in total, twelve resisted and were shot dead. We dragged the remaining twenty-two here."
They all looked at me, trembling with anxiety in their eyes.
I turned on the broadcast.
Not Lee Yu-ri's broadcast.
But a stream on the official Paradise account.
The viewer count rapidly climbed.
[Paradise Beggars Execution Ceremony]
I kept the stream title simple.
Once a decent number of viewers had gathered, I began to speak.
"The people gathered here are the beggars who caused trouble in Paradise during the few days I was away. Their offenses range from minor acts like disobeying orders and business obstruction, to major ones like standing by and watching an act of terror against Paradise. By executing these beggars—who signed up for Paradise Membership only to reap the benefits without taking any responsibility—I am issuing a warning."
I snapped my fingers.
It was a classic, cringey gesture, but surprisingly effective.
The nearby defense turrets aimed in our direction.
Because of the "Stealth" upgrade I had purchased for 2,000 Coins each, to everyone else, it probably looked like nothing was there.
I snapped my fingers once more, and the defense turrets unleashed their firepower while remaining completely cloaked.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
It didn't even take five seconds for all twenty-two of them to collapse.
I issued a warning directly to the live broadcast.
"Paradise only becomes a blissful heaven for everyone, true to its name, when we all uphold our end of the bargain. I didn't build Paradise to feed you with my abilities. You think you're doing me a favor by using my services? I will show you how wrong you are by raising the prices of provisions, food, and services starting right now. If you don't want to use them, then don't. If you mistake my tolerance for a business transaction, you are gravely mistaken. If you want to live in Paradise, throw yourselves on the line to protect it from the beggars who threaten it. If something like this happens again, I will revoke all Paradise Memberships and shut down Paradise entirely."
Having said my piece, I cut the stream.