35. Growing Threat
35. Growing Threat
Subspace.
It was an ability that appeared often in games, too.
An ability with 69.2 aptitude.
"What's Subspace?"
"Uh, it's like that thing from games, right?"
"Really? Hyung, is it really that?"
"Yeah."
"Damn, Yu-rim and I got Enhanced Strength or something."
"Is it good?"
"Ours sucks. Hyung, can you use it?"
"Uh... um. Huh?"
Space distorted in front of him, and something appeared and vanished.
Tae-jun in front clenched and unclenched his hand, and the siblings beside him watched him.
They're acting like complete kids.
'No, they are kids.'
Around twenty is a kid; they probably haven't even gone to the military yet.
Or not.
'Aren't they not much younger than me?'
Watching the three siblings making a fuss, I weighed my options.
Adding three more mouths to feed is a big hit.
So, anything under 40%.
I was planning to ditch them even if they had an ability like Speed Enhancement.
But contrary to my expectations, a good ability appeared.
'If it were anything else, I would've given up.'
Even then, if it were another ability—for example, another Healing, another Taming, or some other ability that couldn't be used for combat—I would've given up.
But ironically, that ability was Subspace.
Subspace ability.
An ability with over 60 aptitude.
'......'
ㅡTap
ㅡTap
I tapped my leg, deep in thought.
Add three people, gain one Subspace.
Two useful men. One woman.
Normally, I'd have to worry about betrayal or them messing with our women, but that doesn't matter. Seo-yoon is here.
The biggest problem is solved.
Then I have to look at the ability itself.
If it were Stamina Enhancement, it would be useless, but if it's Strength Enhancement, it'll be useful for farming later.
It would be fine during migration, too.
Men tend to have more decisiveness, after all.
They have more sense of responsibility than women, so that's fine.
The problem is food.
Food. Food, huh. But, considering the logistics center...
'......'
If I utilize that man Tae-jun's Subspace ability more, can I gain more benefit than the cost of three extra mouths?
Yes.
No.
Yes.
No.
"Hey."
"Ah, yes."
"......"
"......"
The three siblings shut their mouths as soon as they heard my voice.
I called Ahn Tae-jun.
"Let's test that out."
#
Subspace.
It was a slightly ambiguous ability to call that.
To be precise, it felt like an invisible, weightless bag moving around Ahn Tae-jun.
'There's all sorts of abilities out there.'
This was actually pretty fascinating.
Honestly, Metal Manipulation, Taming, Healing—those are abilities that can be generally accepted as superpowers. But this was an ability that was almost like magic.
'Or not.'
Thinking about it again, it might be the same thing.
"It won't fit anymore?"
"Uh, yes."
It feels like it can hold anything up to 50x50x50cm with no weight limit.
Whether I put in a balloon, a book, or a lump of iron, it all went in.
However, there was a limit, and it didn't seem usable for combat.
It's extremely good since it's Lv.1, though.
'......'
I made my decision.
There are soldiers at the logistics center.
I'll take him, raise him to level 2, and store food safely.
Right now, even at 50cm x 50cm x 50cm, I can shove a ton of canned goods in there.
'Just not having to carry that around is a benefit.'
And once it hits level 2?
Even 70x70x70cm would be amazing.
If it becomes 1m x 1m x 1m, that's the jackpot.
A superpower that seems man-made.
No, should I call it magic? Or an esper ability?
What on earth does aptitude mean?
Metal Manipulation is in the 90s.
Contract is in the 80s.
Healing is in the 70s.
Subspace is in the 60s.
Come to think of it, I haven't seen abilities commonly called superpowers.
Psychokinesis.
Teleportation.
Fire.
Ice.
Lightning. Things like that.
'Is it lethality?'
That doesn't fit the criteria; Arm Enhancement is much more powerful right now.
I don't know.
Well, that's not important right now. My thoughts wandered.
I stood up from my seat.
"Uh..."
Tae-jun hesitated.
And Young-jun and Yu-rim looked at me with anxious expressions.
I narrowed my eyes and said to them.
"Stay here for now. I'm going to go somewhere."
"Th-that..."
"I'm not abandoning you, so just wait here for a moment."
The kids' faces darkened.
I left the three siblings and returned first.
#
"So, did you come to ask for our opinion?"
"Yeah."
I returned to the house and asked the women.
What they thought we should do about the three siblings.
The women glanced at each other.
It was Seo-yoon who spoke first.
"Uh, bringing in people we've never met in a world like this is a bit... you know."
Is that so?
Everyone seemed to agree with Seo-yoon.
"But..."
Seo-yoon continued.
"...I have my ability, right? So, I don't think it matters if we bring them."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"What do you guys think?"
Eun-bin said.
"Me too. They're in their early 20s, they've been surviving as a family, and on top of that, we have Seo-yoon-ssi's ability."
"I think so too."
"M-me too."
The other women agreed as well.
True, Seo-yoon's ability is fucking broken.
As I was thinking that, Seo-yoon opened her mouth.
"Oppa, you're thinking the same thing, right? Plus... if those three come, we can keep a thorough watch."
"Yeah."
Then it's decided.
We're bringing them.
#
ㅡClick.
I opened the door and went in.
There was no barricade installed.
It wasn't locked either.
"...Uh..."
The kids were flustered.
I narrowed my eyes and opened my mouth.
"I told you I'd come back."
"We thought you were lying..."
"So, you left the door open to leave?"
"Yes..."
"Where were you going to go?"
"We were going to go home."
"Yeah, like you would've made it."
"......"
"Pack your bags, we're going together."
The kids felt uncomfortable around me.
The kids quietly packed their bags.
It's weird to call them kids, but the three siblings packed their bags.
Quiet outside.
The three siblings carefully emerged into the place littered with corpses.
"Follow me. Keep your mouths shut. I won't take responsibility if you die."
"......"
"......"
I plan to use Submission on the three siblings.
Because they're guys I can't trust yet. I could use things other than Submission, but men and women are different.
From the difference in strength to the way they think.
That's why I plan to set restrictions.
'Of course, there's the hostage Yu-rim, and seeing how he protected that girl until now, he seems to have a sense of responsibility.'
In the first place, if not for Seo-yoon's ability, I wouldn't even have thought about gathering people.
ㅡCrack.
ㅡSquish.
I moved forward, clearing out Infected from a distance.
I'm not worried about them. Honestly, food is plentiful too.
My attention was focused on three other places right now.
Logistics center. New information. I need to go check it out.
The Flower at GP Apartment. That's the only place to supply Nexus Cores right now. However, I don't have the ability to enter that place.
Therefore, IN Company. I need to secure firearms.
I need to bring the Extractor and find where it's ringing.
#
Knock knock knock knock knock knock.
"Oppa. You're here?"
Seo-yoon greeted me familiarly.
The three siblings were flustered seeing Seo-yoon.
"You've arrived."
"Yeah."
Of course, they were even more flustered seeing the three women behind me.
Well, I hadn't told them about the women.
"Are these the people?"
Eun-bin asked.
"Uh... I think we should use Seo-yoon's ability first."
"Ah. Yes."
I used the Contract.
The kids didn't resist.
Well, they said they'd follow, I have a gun out in the open, and there are hammers and various things above my head, so how could they resist?
They signed a contract close to a slave contract.
"I'll cast it every week."
"...Yes."
"Yes."
After that, I checked. Information about them.
It was closer to telling them one more time so the women could hear it too.
From the 32nd Division going back and forth to the Bugang-myeon logistics center, coming to the cultural center, the internal incident, and information about the Infected.
The kids didn't tell me a single lie.
Not bad.
"You guys, there are plenty of rooms here, so pick one. No, wait. Eun-bin."
"Yes."
"You assign the kids their rooms. Check on Yu-rim before she goes in; the kid's condition wasn't very good."
"Yes."
"Yu-rim."
"...Ah... yes?"
"Eun-bin there is a doctor, so tell her everything that's wrong. Since you're both women, tell her about any uncomfortable spots too."
"Ah..."
"Yu-rim-ssi? Uh, come this way."
"Yes."
"And when she's done, shoot the boys with a heal too."
"Yes."
Anyway, they can't touch us now. Seo-yoon's ability is definitely good. But because of that.
'It's too dangerous to stay here.'
Watching Eun-bin take the kids, I called the remaining women again.
#
The place where Seo-yoon, Yun-ji, and A-rin were.
I opened my mouth.
From the Flower at GP Apartment to the Sentient Being at the cultural center.
"...Sentient Being?"
"Yeah. That's what was attacking them. So the situation isn't very good right now."
The reason I can leave them here and move is...
If you stay quiet as a mouse during the day, the Infected don't really enter most places, and at night, the Infected are sleeping, so I left them here.
No, it was because I thought they just stumbled around on their own and didn't really attack.
"You heard that they controlled the Infected at night to attack the cultural center, right? You guys too."
"Yes..."
"Yeah."
"Then that means such a situation could happen here at any time."
Strangely, superpowers have limited offensive capabilities.
I might just not have found them yet, though.
Superpowers up to the 40% range do have offensive capabilities, but they're weaker than guns. Being weaker than a gun means they aren't that good against the Infected either.
'Of course, that 40% Speed Enhancement does look good, though.'
Even that would eventually die to a gun without being able to do anything.
And the superpowers I've seen so far above 40% are Subspace, Healing, Contract, and Metal Manipulation.
Except for Metal Manipulation, the rest of the abilities are ambiguous to call offensive abilities. If I threw the kids with those abilities outside right now, they'd die without even being able to hunt one or two Infected.
"So, here's what I'm thinking."
Forget GP Apartment, IN Company, superpowers, everything; I'm thinking of going to check out Bugang-myeon first. Finding a decent house or pension around there.
Bugang-myeon, which has at least some possibility.
If it's a sane military, I can get help.
Even if the military has gone crazy, I have the power to oppose them right now.
Because I can easily block grenades, bullets, and the like.
Even if they're all dead, that's fine. Then there would be military equipment and such left there.
I asked.
"What do you think?"
#
There was quite a bit of positive feedback.
The road there doesn't have much human presence right now, anyway.
However, that positivity didn't mean they wanted to move right now.
"Uh, honestly, we don't know if we can move well. If it's Bugang-myeon, it's quite a distance from here..."
"Yeah, we have to drive, and there are Infected on the way."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Rather, I think it would be better to defend this place to block those Infected, the Sentient Being. The fence is high enough that the Infected can't climb over it. Uh, like by stacking barricades in the front. And standing thorough watch on the top floor. Especially since there are three more people now, it won't be too much of a strain on our bodies."
"What if you don't stand watch well?"
"...I can use my ability. To make sure no one does anything else while on night watch."
"Really?"
"Yes. It would be really good if the military were there, but the risk is too high. Especially since we don't know what kind of Infected are down there. Also... honestly, our abilities aren't good right now either."
That's true.
We haven't migrated long ago, either.
As for our personnel, the ones we can use as combatants right now are me, the two men who caught regular Infected at the cultural center, Seo-yoon who shoots well, and Yun-ji with Arm Enhancement.
Practically, the only person who can win in close combat against a Mirror-class Infected is Yun-ji.
Seo-yoon is useless without a gun, and the men aren't reliable yet. Honestly, I'm too weak right now too.
In this situation, it's nearly impossible for a total of 8 people to move. Why, didn't we have several big incidents just coming from Hope Villa to here?
'.......'
Then I'll go with the original plan for now.
"Alright, I got it. I'll leave the inside to you. Do a good job."
"Yes."
"Understood."
Yun-ji and A-rin leave.
I grabbed Seo-yoon.
"Oppa?"
"Keep an eye on the kids' condition. If they're shitty guys, tell me, I'll kill them."
"...Yes."
#
Just as I was about to leave, Eun-bin and the three siblings came out.
I asked Eun-bin.
"How are they?"
"Their physical condition was quite bad. I treated them, though."
"Is that so?"
"...Uh, thank you."
Yu-rim bowed her head to me.
I shook my head.
"Thank Eun-bin, not me. Eun-bin, you hear about it from Seo-yoon. I've already talked about the current situation. Yu-rim and the boys, go listen too."
"Ah, yes."
"Yep."
Yu-rim's complexion was good, as if Eun-bin had treated her well.
Healing ability is definitely good.
The boys are okay too.
Of course.
"!@#!@"
"...!!!"
They seemed a bit shocked by Eun-bin's words, though.
What on earth did she say?
#
Anyway.
I returned to Hope Villa.
ㅡ......
The Extractor was still perfectly fine. I put the Extractor in my bag.
'Is it human?'
Those guys are where the Extractor rings.
ㅡClick.
The inside of Hope Villa, now gathering dust. I took only the Extractor and came out.
I was planning to take this and look around the area first, anyway.
'Shall I go?'
I turned on the satellite map.
I excluded Green Fresh Market and Eunha General Hospital. Since that's where those guys were, they wouldn't be there anymore.
It's impossible to go up towards Eunha University.
Then the only way is to go left or right from the Green Fresh Market line.
'......'
There's nothing much on the right. Hope Villa is on the right to begin with.
If you go further right from there, there's no road.
Then obviously it's the left.
If you go straight to the left, you reach the stream that cuts through the center of Cheongju.
Shall I go towards the stream?
'I should.'
There are too many scattered dangers to walk around the city center, so it's better to walk around there and look for places with figures like special forces reflecting light at night.
If I go into a tall building nearby, I'll be able to see the whole other side.
'......'
I headed left.
#
I arrived at the stream path.
There was truly no human presence here. There were no Infected at all, and the night stream was illuminated slightly by the moonlight, but there was nothing else.
Even the road was empty, except for the occasional vehicle. This side was clear enough to drive a car.
'......'
Well, that's not important, I went into the building next to it.
It was a building with a clinic, an oriental medicine clinic, and a screen golf room, but I went up to the top floor.
Since the Extractor isn't ringing, it doesn't seem like they're here.
ㅡTap
ㅡTap
Top floor board game cafe.
When I opened the door, a musty smell vibrated.
There were a few Infected inside, I smashed the heads of the Walkers and Runners, and went inside the board game cafe and opened the window.
Then the scenery of downtown Cheongju came into view.
Vehicles were smashed into each other, tilted utility poles were visible, bloodstains were naturally visible, skeletons were visible in some places, and Infected were stumbling around.
First, I carefully looked at one place.
'None, none.'
Nothing unusual is visible.
Well, it's strange to look for them blindly like this. That time was an incident where coincidence overlapped with coincidence.
However.
'.......'
Over there. I saw an unusually large number of Infected gathered in the direction of the bridge.
A small bridge, Infected gathered in a swarm.
Something is strange.
...The Sentient Being is bothering me, too.
I turned on my smartphone.
'Will I be able to see it?'
Since it's a new model, the zoom worked very well. And.
'......'
I confirmed the ones with the same characteristics as that Sentient Being. Sentient Beings hiding among the Walkers and Runners. They were leading the Walkers and Runners and circling somewhere.
'What is it?'
After watching for a while.
I could tell the direction.
'A school?'
It's a girls' high school.
The name was probably Future Girls' High School.
Why are the Infected circling that place?
I zoomed in on the school direction.
And, I was able to discover something very familiar on the school playground.
'That is...'