Chapter 61: Make Yourselves Comfortable. Just Relax.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 61: Make Yourselves Comfortable. Just Relax.
When I returned, the base was bustling.
To be precise, the newly built Resident Studio No. 1 was crowded.
"You're back early," Oh Yoon-seop said.
He had done his part.
Before Saturday arrived, he had brought people out of the multiplex.
Every single one of them was capable of combat.
They were likely the ones who had been assigned to the hunting squad with him.
Their ages varied, ranging from young adults to those in their early thirties and early forties.
There were about ten of them.
Not bad.
Ten out of two hundred people might not seem like a huge blow, but it was a different story if all of them were combat personnel.
"These are the colleagues I used to go hunting with. They even risked their lives to cover for me when I left to come here."
"Nice to meet you all. Make yourselves comfortable. If you need anything, just let me know."
The people who followed Oh Yoon-seop were somewhat wary of me.
I understood.
They had followed Oh Yoon-seop out of trust in him, not because they trusted me.
Oh Yoon-seop must have told them this place was great.
And it actually was.
It was warm, and food was provided.
So, their trust was directed toward Oh Yoon-seop, not me.
But it didn't matter.
After all, I was the one above Oh Yoon-seop.
"Well, it's the same wherever you go, but while the welfare here is good, I expect everyone to pull their own weight. I don't have a hobby of feeding freeloaders."
I had to make that clear right from the start.
I gave them a slight prod, and as expected, they immediately got riled up. It was so predictable.
"Excuse me, but we followed the Lieutenant Colonel here. As you said, we will pull our weight, but we won't tolerate any power trips or rudeness. We came here specifically to get away from that kind of treatment."
The atmosphere instantly turned icy at his sharp, defiant words.
Oh Yoon-seop's face stiffened as well.
Was it because they saw my expression twitch slightly?
Unfortunately, they must have misread it.
Because I absolutely loved this kind of thing.
"Sure, sure. I like that attitude. Just relax. Make yourselves comfortable. It's not like this is the military, and it's not like you have to do everything I say, right? It'd be great if we could all just do what we want and live happily together."
"Please drop the informal tone. Even the Lieutenant Colonel treats us with respect..."
"But you see..."
The situation was fine, but this guy was a real piece of shit.
I hated people like him the most.
Bastards who demand rights when they don't even have the power to back up their words.
I drew my dagger and swung it lightly.
"...? Huh? Arghhh!"
With a dull thud, an arm fell to the ground right after the dagger flashed before his eyes. Realizing the severed limb was his own, the guy shrieked.
It was a reflexive scream triggered by the visual shock before the pain even registered.
"Tell me just one thing that makes you so special that you deserve respect. All you have is a pathetic Level 3 Combat Skill and the sheer luck of running into the Lieutenant Colonel, isn't it? Do you have some mind-blowing talent I don't know about? Back at the multiplex, you didn't want to swallow your pride but still wanted to be treated like somebody. You kept acting up, and you were on the verge of getting singled out and fucked over. Then the Lieutenant Colonel showed up and reached out, so you jumped at the chance, thinking you'd found an easy mark. And now you're barking at me? What did you say?"
Blood gushed out.
He frantically grabbed his severed arm and tried to press it back against the stump, but of course, it wouldn't just stick.
I called out to Kim Ji-hee.
"Attach it."
"Yes."
Light emanated from Kim Ji-hee's hands, fusing the arm back to the stump.
It had been a while since I'd seen Kim Ji-hee do her actual job.
I had only experienced it once when I got hit in the beginning, but seeing her seamlessly reattach a severed limb without leaving a trace made me realize the true worth of a Level 4 Healing Skill.
Seeing his arm fully reattached and moving according to his will, the guy scrambled backward.
The once-noisy street fell dead silent.
Everyone hung on my every breath.
It was a tense, heavy atmosphere, but I liked it.
I don't form groups.
When I played solo, I avoided forming groups because I hated dealing with this kind of drama.
I am not the kind of leader who coaxes, persuades, and coddles people.
I'm the type of person who only feels satisfied when I beat, crush, and kill any motherfucker who gets on my nerves.
Honestly, a leader like that can't last long.
Resentment is bound to build up.
If you swing the whip, you have to offer a carrot too, but I don't know how to give carrots.
Or maybe it's more accurate to say I just don't want to.
That's why I played solo in the Zombie Apocalypse.
But in reality, I decided to do things differently.
I created a faction, and I'm gathering people.
Just because I formed a faction doesn't mean I intend to suppress my temper and hand out carrots that don't suit my taste.
I will still only wield the whip.
My cheat modes can throw the carrots for me.
I walked over to the guy who was sitting on the ground with wet pants.
"Listen carefully. Whether you followed the Lieutenant Colonel or whoever else, do whatever the fuck you want. Make yourselves comfortable. But let me make one thing clear: eating my food, using my water, and consuming my electricity inside my base while acting like a parasite sucking my blood? That is absolutely not going to happen. Got it?"
The guy nodded.
Though I spoke while looking him in the eye, the rest of the group nodded along as well.
Fear and terror.
It was written all over the faces of Oh Yoon-seop, Oh Se-i, and Lee Mi-sook.
I thought to myself that I had completely ruined the mood right off the bat, but a part of me felt satisfied.
And I was curious.
Tomorrow morning, or perhaps before a week passed.
Would the carrot of living in Small Paradise be bigger?
Or would the terror of the whip from my ruthless behavior be greater?
If they left, the whip was greater.
If they stayed, the carrot was greater.
Without another word, I walked into the building.
I could leave the rest to Kim Ji-hee.
"Everyone, please gather around for a moment. I'll go over some rules and things to keep in mind while living here."
As expected, Kim Ji-hee was quick on the uptake.
---
Saturday, 9:00 AM.
I transported the food to the promised Seongsu Park.
A Level 3 Backpack packed to the brim.
And since I had more hands on deck today, I brought five of the newcomers along, having each of them carry a box.
Perhaps because rumors had spread over the past week, there were already many people waiting even though it wasn't time yet.
Looks like I'll be making a sweet amount of Coins again today.
While I was displaying the goods, a group approached.
"What kind of bastard is setting up shop before..."
It was a familiar face.
Seo Se-hu, whom I had seen last week.
The owner of the Seongsu Multiplex.
Leading a group of about thirty people, he approached me with a furious expression.
"Is it you?"
"Me?"
"Yeah, you motherfucker. It's you, isn't it?"
"Are you mentally ill? If you just barge in, cut to the chase, and ask if it's me, how the hell am I supposed to answer?"
"Ah, you son of a bitch, playing dumb. You're the one who's been wandering around our faction's territory lately and killing our guys. It's you, you bastard. I came here knowing everything."
"Oh, really?"
I put on a troubled expression and looked behind him.
The armed group of about thirty people were all wearing helmets.
Among them, I saw a few turning their heads away.
"This is troublesome. I spared some friends on the condition that they keep their mouths shut, but it seems they broke their promise."
"I knew it, you fucking bastard. Where do you get the balls? Huh? Do you want to die? Ha, fuck. Oh Yoon-seop, you're here too? What is this? Was this all planned?"
"Hmm... I wonder how far back I should trace this."
Seeing how worked up Seo Se-hu was, I figured today's business was ruined.
But I couldn't just let it end like this.
I had anticipated this, so I needed to make good use of it.
"But that's not really important."
"Not important? You motherf—"
"Do you guys think you're hot shit? Do you really think you can bring thirty people here and win a fight against everyone else?"
There was no need for me to step forward and do anything.
Quite a lot of people had gathered here.
Though they were all from different factions, some individuals, and some small parties.
Because the rumors from last week had spread so widely, there were easily over a hundred people gathered by the time it neared 9:00 AM.
They might not say anything to a group of thirty on their own, but if they fought as a whole, thirty people stood no chance.
After all, the others possessed enough combat power to gather Coins in their own right.
"..."
"Hey, let's get in line."
"Aren't you here to buy stuff?"
"If you have beef to settle, do it later. We need to buy food today."
"Ugh, those bastards are always picking fights around the area, and now they're coming all the way here to cause trouble."
Once I spoke up, the people gained courage and started chiming in one by one.
The reason they could muster up the courage was because there was a substantial amount of food piled up today.
And perhaps they hoped that taking my side might get them a small discount.
In a way, they were proposing an implicit deal.
Why wouldn't I play along with such an entertaining situation?
I called out to the person who was complaining the loudest.
"You there. What are you buying?"
"Ten Hetbahns, ten packs of Ramen, and ten bottles of water."
"Lucky you. The price went up today, so it should be 450 Coins, but I'll give you a discount and only take 200 Coins."
"Thank you so much!!!!!!"
Seeing someone receive a benefit, the customers grew even bolder in criticizing the multiplex faction.
"Get in line!"
"Showing up late and causing a scene!"
"Are you guys thugs or what?!"
Seo Se-hu's face contorted.
Seeing him on the verge of attacking, I threw a bit of kindling onto the fire.
"Oh, by the way, I heard you tried to rub your cock against the Lieutenant Colonel's daughter and got rejected? Pfft."
Since it wouldn't be good for Oh Yoon-seop to hear the rest, I stepped closer to Seo Se-hu and whispered to him quietly.
"Thanks to you kicking her out the other day, I got to eat her. She tasted great. She was a virgin, too. Dumbass. She said she rejected you because she figured your dick was fucking tiny."
"You motherfucker!!"
Adding a few lies to the mix made Seo Se-hu completely lose his mind.
It was just a bait I threw together by embellishing a minor detail I'd heard from the Helmet Thief as "crucial intel," and he bit right into it.
A guy with such low stats rushed at me.
There was no time for the others to back him up.
The distance between Seo Se-hu and me was so close that, from afar, it probably looked like he ran straight into the dagger I was holding and stabbed himself.
Squelch.
"Cough... Ack..."
Once. Twice. Thrice.
This time, instead of stabbing his vitals, I repeatedly stabbed him all over his body, putting on a show for everyone.
[Quest Complete!]
[3 Points Acquired]
[3,000 Coins Acquired]
[Normal Mode Level (★) Selection Ticket x3 Acquired]
[Faction Quest 2]
- You have announced the launch of your faction by crushing a Small Faction.
- Form a Small Faction by dominating or dismantling 3 or more Small Factions.
- Clear Condition: Dominate or Dismantle Small Factions ( 0 / 3)
- Reward: 4 Points, 5,000 Coins, Normal Mode Level (★) Selection Ticket x5