Chapter 45: The Scout Offer
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 45: The Scout Offer
Building a faction is no easy task.
Especially for someone like me who has always played games solo, it was practically uncharted territory.
100,000 hours of play time didn't give me the answers on how to build a faction or run an organization.
Of course, I hadn't played entirely solo.
There were survivor groups, and I had joined them before, and I had even gathered survivors myself to play.
If there was one thing I learned from those times, it was that humans really shouldn't be trusted.
There are very, very few people actually worth trusting.
Maybe it was because I didn't trust anyone to begin with, so I never gave them a reason to trust me, which in turn only formed those kinds of relationships.
Regardless, to pull off a base-building type playstyle, I ultimately needed to fill my Safe Base with useful people, not to mention trustworthy ones. My judgment was that letting just anyone in would only be a hassle with no real substance.
So, I made a decision: observe a lot of people, and recruit the ones who seemed decent.
Humans can't be trusted anyway.
What can be trusted, however, are material conditions.
Even now, the reason Kim Ji-hee and I can maintain a smooth, seemingly trust-based, tight-knit relationship is ultimately because we successfully exchange what we want from each other, whether tangible or intangible.
That is what I believe in.
So, whether they have a trash personality or are a total dumbass, what I ultimately want is clear ability. Or someone who is useful to me.
As for the rest, I was confident I could accommodate them with my insanely broken Cheat Mode.
If I had installed these kinds of Cheat Modes when playing the zombie apocalypse back then, maybe I could have run an organization successfully.
Food is abundant, and safety is guaranteed.
In a group like that, not many people would think of rebelling against or betraying a leader with overwhelming power.
That was why I couldn't let Oh Yoon-seop slip away.
Out of all the people I'd seen so far... though there weren't many, his Mode Level was the highest.
He was practically specialized in combat.
His base stats were already 3/3/3, and once he entered combat and received his mode effects, he could easily reach at least level 5 or 6.
A guy like this is a lackey to that punk, instead of being the head of an organization leading 200 people?
[Seo Se-hu]
– Age: 26
– Mode: Capable Group Leader (★★★★★★), Efficient Coin (★★★★)
– Stats
– Strength: ★★
– Agility: ★★
– Stamina: ★
– Mana: ★★
This bastard is no ordinary guy either.
An ability to use Coins to upgrade or use things needed for the base.
It was literally a budget version of my Safe Base ability.
The only difference was that he could use Coins to cast a barrier over the base when zombies swarmed, or grant buffs to the users belonging to his group.
I'm kind of jealous, actually.
On top of that, the level 4 Efficient Coin was an ability that gave a discount when using Coins to activate abilities.
With that kind of setup, it wasn't hard to see why someone of Oh Yoon-seop's caliber would willingly serve under him.
Ultimately, even powerful strength needs survival to back it up.
Conversely, it wouldn't be strange if their hierarchy was reversed, but well... I didn't know their internal circumstances.
However, this wasn't a bad situation for me.
If Oh Yoon-seop had been the leader, things might have gotten a bit complicated.
Setting aside how incredibly rude it would be to ask the head of a 200-person group to defect to our side, he might have suggested bringing all 200 of them with him.
That wouldn't be me absorbing them; it would be them absorbing me.
So I was wondering what to do and was about to just leave it for next time, but if the leader is Seo Se-hu, that changes things.
Oh Yoon-seop's expression wasn't great either.
He clearly didn't like Seo Se-hu.
I don't have the ability to read minds just by looking at faces, but I have at least that much tact.
"Hey, ahjussi. What the hell are you babbling about? Why are you trying to NTR someone else's precious talent? Fuck, this is pissing me off. I asked you to throw in some freebies, and what the hell do you think you're doing?"
Ignoring Seo Se-hu's words, I continued to entice Oh Yoon-seop.
"A few truly trustworthy people and your family. I can accept up to that many. You won't have to worry about food, and the same goes for safety."
There was no need to make a long-winded emotional appeal.
It hadn't even been a month since the zombie apocalypse broke out.
A month is far too short for complete strangers to develop deep loyalty, even if they banded together to survive.
I threw the bag full of Hetbahn, ramen, and meat at Seo Se-hu.
"Ugh! Ack! Fuck! Are you crazy, ahjussi? You wanna die?"
Leaving behind Seo Se-hu, who had fallen over after being hit by the bag, and the remaining food...
I left the Hetbahn and ramen, and tossed two Thermal Pouches to Oh Yoon-seop.
Oh Yoon-seop caught them effortlessly.
He checked inside and his face filled with surprise.
I gave him a casual smile, as if it were nothing.
The four Thermal Pouches I brought today each contained 6 kg of meat.
Well, I did pretty much empty more than half of my freezer for this.
Which meant those two Thermal Pouches held a whopping 12 kg of meat.
"Think it over, and either contact me or come find me."
I had already scanned the rest of the people, and none of them were particularly desirable.
"Let's go."
I didn't bother picking up the few Hetbahn and ramen scattered on the ground.
Oh Yoon-seop stared blankly, while Seo Se-hu pointed his finger at me, fuming with rage.
And the other people slowly gathered to scavenge whatever scraps were left behind.
My first business transaction was successfully concluded.
---
I earned nearly 3,000 Coins from today's business.
"No wonder a bastard like Seo Se-hu got to be the leader."
I had busted my ass killing zombies, clearing quests, and beating dungeons for nearly two weeks just to earn around 1,200 Coins. Yet, I had just made more than double that amount in half a day just by sitting around and running my mouth.
This was a moment where I once again felt, deep in my bones, just how insanely broken the base-building type Cheat Mode was.
Of course, since I sold things I had received as rations in proportion to the time I spent hunting, it was a bit of a contradiction to count this as just a single day's work.
Still, it showed that in some ways, a base possessed immense power in a zombie apocalypse, just as much as hunting did.
The Coins I currently had amounted to around 4,600.
"Hehe. The shelves are so pretty."
I filled the warehouse with shelves and stacked the remaining food on top of them.
The price of a shelf was 3 Coins each.
They were quite large and stacked high, so they were practically a steal.
I lined them up all along one wall.
I let Kim Ji-hee organize them however she wanted.
Seeing how she handled things by my side during today's business, I figured I could leave this sort of task to her.
I also upgraded the warehouse.
Upgrading its size and durability turned it into a Level 2 Warehouse, which unlocked new upgrade options. One of them seemed absolutely essential.
[Warehouse Anti-Spoilage Upgrade Cost: 100 Coins]
– Reduces food spoilage within the warehouse by 90%.
Foods that require refrigeration or freezing can be perfectly preserved if you find a refrigerator or freezer to put them in.
However, foods like ramen have to be stored at room temperature. The downside is that those with surprisingly short shelf lives must be eaten quickly, but this upgrade prevents that issue.
Of course, multiplying a short shelf life by ten didn't mean they could be stored forever, but this was more than enough.
I spent about 400 Coins decorating and upgrading the warehouse interior.
I moved the weapons over and set up a few large freezers and refrigerators exclusive to the Safe Base warehouse.
"Hehehehe."
Although it was still far from full, Kim Ji-hee ran around in excitement, thrilled to have a warehouse of her own.
"Ah, Oppa. Did you give him the leftover meat earlier to recruit that ahjussi?"
"Yeah. It's about time I start gathering some useful people."
"Finally, a guest in the upstairs unit...!"
"We're the only ones who are going to use this building. I'll have to clear out one of the resident-exclusive studio apartments next door."
Most of the buildings around here are houses or studio apartments anyway.
Or I could just build one using the Safe Base-exclusive living facilities.
The building I'm living in now will be used only by me and Kim Ji-hee.
Along with the women who will be added later.
Just because this is reality doesn't mean my dream of building a harem—my ultimate zombie apocalypse fantasy—has vanished.
Whenever I find a woman I like, I'll immediately send her a love call, just like I did with Oh Yoon-seop and Kim Ji-hee.
"But do you think he'll come just because you gave him meat...? Unlike me, those people probably aren't alone..."
Kim Ji-hee was probably thinking it was similar to when she came to me.
Watching from the side, she probably felt even more strongly that it was an offer hard to refuse.
But Oh Yoon-seop's situation was different from hers.
Even in her eyes, Oh Yoon-seop wasn't weak, and he had little reason to abandon his current place to come here.
Even if offered better conditions, some people simply don't like taking risks if they are satisfied with the present.
"Well, I'm just throwing the bait out there. If he comes, great. If not, whatever. If it looks like there's absolutely no chance, I can always kill him later and gamble on Mode Predation."
"Huh?"
"There's something like that."
I had options.
Do I scout a useful person to bring into my base and help build my own kingdom?
Or, if they refuse, do I kill them without hesitation and pluck out only the modes I like?
The latter wasn't exactly a great option, but what can you do?
They have to come willingly like Kim Ji-hee for us to get along smoothly in a good relationship.
Since I'd cast the bait for now, I decided to wait and see, and prepare for tomorrow.
"I should get to sleep. We have a guest coming tomorrow."
"Who?"
"You'll see. Tomorrow is shopping day, so you should get to sleep too."
Saturday passed, and the day of the Visiting Black Market Merchant arrived.