Safety or Gamble? (2)
'Uh, er... huff... I think you'd better go in and hear it for yourself, boss.'
The moment I heard Kim Yunjin's words, I headed straight inside the church.
"Oh, Junyoung, you're here."
"Suhyun."
The men followed us inside too—they were too awkward to just leave standing outside. We climbed the stairs to the second floor, where Jeong Suhyun was sorting fruits in the hallway and spotted me.
"Who are these guys?"
He narrowed his eyes at Kim Jungshik's group, instantly on guard. He really didn't trust people easily.
"It's too cramped here anyway. Let's move somewhere else."
"Ah, yeah. Sorry about that."
I took the men back down to the first-floor prayer room. It seemed like the best spot to park seven grown men for now while they waited.
"Uh, please wait here for a bit."
I settled Kim Jungshik's group in the prayer room, then stepped out to talk to Jeong Suhyun alone. I filled him in on what happened at the old downtown and Northdong Station.
"I see."
He listened quietly, then nodded.
"So these guys came to trade with us, right?"
"Pretty much."
"If you brought them, they're probably fine. And you said they just need to wait, so... hmm. Not a bad deal. We could just seal them in with your ice shield and have them sit tight."
No problem, my ass. What was this about barricading the prayer room door with an ice shield? When I called him on it, Jeong Suhyun grinned slyly.
"How can I trust strangers on first sight? We have to watch them first."
"Fair enough."
He was basically running the church now, so keeping the insiders safe was priority one. Who knew what these guys might pull?
"So you're heading out right now to scout their base?"
"Yeah. Taking them along wouldn't work out well."
Kim Jungshik's group was heavy on production and support skills. They had a couple with combat abilities, but nothing impressive. Losing them on an expedition would suck.
Jeong Suhyun let out a sigh.
"Too bad. If they were young and scrawny, we could've slotted them right into our base."
"That's the issue?"
"Yeah. We've only got women here, and Dojin's skills aren't great for defense. We can just lock 'em down and tell them to wait for you."
Everything they needed—food, bathroom—was inside anyway. He propped his chin on his hand thoughtfully. I nodded along.
Can't blame him for not trusting them.
Jeong Suhyun and I had built trust surviving Northdong Office and Rocket Mart. Kim Yunjin and her boyfriend were rescues, so they were solid. But these guys? Total strangers based on stories alone—no way.
Sealing the door is overkill, though.
Better safe than sorry, though. I gave a nod of approval and changed the subject. Something more pressing had come up.
"By the way, I saw the ice shield by the back door was smashed. What happened?"
"Oh, that? Come here."
He grimaced and led me outside. At the sealed front gate, three shadowy figures lay sprawled on the ground.
"This is..."
Three black men riddled with bullet holes.
They haven't been dead long.
I checked the bodies. Thick jackets too heavy for spring weather, pry bars gripped in their hands. Their faces were frozen in agony—situation clear enough. They'd caught a hail of bullets from Jeong Suhyun and dragged the corpses here himself.
Still, I needed details.
"...Who were these guys?"
"After you left, Yuri and I were on watch when they approached the church. Problem was... they weren't friendly."
Yeah, figured they had to be trouble to end up dead.
"What exactly went down?"
"A few hours ago, they came this way. Yuri was on outer guard and tried talking to them in English, but they got aggressive."
I nodded. He'd mentioned shooting them but skipped the buildup.
Jeong Suhyun continued.
"Yuri said they were babbling nonsense in English and banging on the ice shield, so she told them nicely to beat it. But they kept yammering. When she stood firm, one summoned a hammer-like thing and started pounding the fence. When that failed, they went for their abilities."
That was enough.
"So they tried breaking in no matter what, and threatened us too."
"Yeah. They threatened with abilities and damaged the building. Had to shoot."
"That the story? Why'd the ice shield break?"
"Hammer didn't work, so they used an ability to smash it. Fire summon. Probably the impact plus the heat cracked it."
Using powers against my power. I nodded.
"Got it. And good call."
"Thought you'd hate this kinda thing."
He looked puzzled, but I shook my head.
"Why trust foreigners who won't even listen? Especially ignoring warnings."
"Huh."
"Yeah. I'll get the rest from Choi Yuri."
His judgment was spot on. Letting them in blindly could've spelled disaster inside. Plus, Choi Yuri was non-combat—could've lost her easy.
"This is bad, though."
"The black guys?"
"Yeah."
We'd held them off fine, but it was still trouble.
"Means other survivors are out there."
"True."
"And old downtown was overrun by those flesh lumps. Where'd they even come from?"
"Only one possibility: the rich housing in the wealthy district."
"Yeah, but something feels off."
Like Jeong Suhyun said, survivors holed up in the fancy houses made sense. Foreigners with status windows, no less. But plenty nagged at me.
Why pop up now? And head here?
No answers.
"If you're saying that, staying here's getting too risky."
He swallowed hard. But I couldn't do much right now either.
"How's the watch rotation?"
"Two hours daytime, five at night. Only four of us, and two downstairs."
I frowned. Northdong Station mess, blood clump zombies, now foreign ability users? Watch was one upstairs, one down, rotating rest—but foreigners made it pointless.
Can't move yet either.
Jeong Suhyun, Kim Yunjin, Choi Yuri, Jeong Dojin—all far from combat jobs. Leaving them alone felt wrong.
They're the most reliable people left in this world.
Jeong Suhyun's rifle helped, but ammo was finite and low. Sticking here to babysit would just drain me dry.
"We either clean those guys out or bail. Pick one."
"Yeah. Personally, I'd leave ASAP. Too many threats: Northdong Liberation Army, those foreigners, now blood clump zombies."
He scowled.
"And on watch today, Yuri and Yunjin's stamina is shot."
"Stamina?"
"Yeah. Yunjin's one thing, but Yuri kept dozing off next to me—jerking awake multiple times."
"...She sick?"
"Doesn't seem physical. Probably mental."
Made sense. Trauma from the assault, now threatened by those black guys.
Shit.
Stuck between options, bad outcomes looming. Then it hit me: Jeong Suhyun's skill.
Wait.
I'd planned this use for it, but got sidetracked.
"Jeong Suhyun. Your skill."
"My ability? Viewer Eyes."
"Yeah. You can see others' status windows. Skills too, right? Except mine."
"Yep."
"Can you check those guys' skills?"
If Kim Jungshik's crew matched what they told me, I could trust them a bit. And they'd trust us back.
"I could... but do we need to?"
He looked doubtful. I shook my head.
"They already told me their abilities."
"Their skills?"
His eyes widened. Telling your skills was like showing your full hand.
"Yeah. So if yours match, we know they're not stirring shit."
"...True. Changes things."
He nodded.
"If they match, we can bring 'em in."
I relayed what they'd told me.
"Let's go check."
"Okay."
Creeeak. We opened the prayer room door. The men were already summoning and chowing down—raw beef, courtesy of Section Chief Choi's meat summon, no doubt.
"...What the hell?"
They froze as I entered, looking sheepish.
Slurp. "We, uh, thought you'd be late, so... Hey, Section Chief Choi, cut it out."
"Sorry."
"Lee Deputy, stuff that in your mouth quick. We didn't eat lunch before heading out, right? Haha."
Kim Jungshik's lame excuse. I sighed. Better than scheming, at least.
Feels like inviting crazies, though.
I glanced at Jeong Suhyun. He nodded and scanned them one by one.
Kim Section Chief: Drug Summoner.
Lee Deputy Chief: Animal Tamer.
Choi Section Chief: Meat Summoner.
Lee Deputy: Blunt Weapon Summoner.
Kim Deputy: Spear Summoner.
Hwang Sa-won: Blunt Weapon Summoner.
Joo Sa-won: Grain Summoner.
Matched what I knew. Ages and looks made ID easy—Kim Jungshik, Lee Deputy Chief, glasses guy were obvious; just verify the other four. Jeong Suhyun would note it down.
I turned to the men casually.
"This is our base for now. Stay here till I secure the new one, then we move. Questions?"
"Uh, that place you're going—is it where we passed earlier?" Glasses guy—Lee Deputy—asked.
"Yes."
"...This spot seems fine, though."
"......"
The others, including Kim Jungshik, nodded. Fair—they'd seen us clean it up nice.
They really wanted in.
Time for a final test.
"This place isn't safe. Same as Northdong Station. It was the Northdong Liberation Army's spot—we just took it temporarily."
I kept going.
"Location sucks too. If infrastructure collapses? We starve here. Dead before escaping Seoul."
We had two months' food, but no water or power resupply. And food wouldn't last without breaching south to Northdong Station.
"N-no offense meant. Sorry."
Glasses guy apologized quick. I waved it off.
"Nah. Just frustrated—shit happens. It's fine."
I scowled, signaling the incident.
"What happened?"
Lee Deputy Chief asked at my sigh. I smirked inwardly.
"I was gonna leave you here and scout solo... but problems popped up."