65. Chaos

Why is a Hunter here again?

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Nexus Core: Metallokinesis lv4 [10/100]

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I don't know, but I killed it first.

I was briefly flustered, but since it was an open area outside, there was no issue killing it.

'......'

Where did it crawl back from?

Or did it respawn inside? Like in a game?

'My head hurts.'

Not something to think about today.

Because I moved too much.

I want to search more, but the day was breaking.

'......'

The sun about to rise in the east.

Sejong City, not yet turned green because plants haven't infiltrated it yet.

Except for the occasional Nest, Flower, and yellow infected zones, it's not much different from before.

Except for the scars the Hunters left behind here and there in front of me.

'I guess this is what the world is like.'

Everyone dying left and right,

And no one can be trusted.

...My head cooled down.

I followed the leaking vehicle, but it had been overturned for a long time.

It seems other vehicles disappeared, but tracking them is impossible.

Furthermore, searching the entire Sejong City is also impossible.

However, searching while exploring Sejong is possible.

Therefore,

I'll go to the IN Company Sejong Branch,

Kill Hunters, and find out why they appeared here again.

Find and kill new Infected,

And if there are new people, find them, and it seemed right to track them while I'm at it.

Also, further reinforce the remaining I-Pension.

Actually, I thought about moving, but in the current situation, going anywhere is impossible.

'......'

I drove the vehicle and headed upwards.

#

"They're all dead. The logistics center."

"......"

The intact I-Pension.

The atmosphere instantly turned serious.

Well, the logistics center base that supplied our shield and combat supplies was destroyed in an instant.

Now that we have to live on our own, it is indeed a quite serious matter.

Seol-hwa, who seemed nonchalant but had eyes darting around; So-young and Min-ah, who were openly terrified.

Expressionless Seo-yoon, cold Eun-bin, and the rest who were unreadable.

Eventually, Seo-yoon asked.

"Then... does that mean we have to live on our own now?"

"That's right."

"Did not a single person survive?"

Eun-bin asked.

Yeah, I hadn't told them properly. I organized what happened there and told them.

The second lieutenant and soldiers with their heads pierced by bullets.

The massacred civilians.

Next, I talked about the Balloon. The monster that floats in the air like a balloon.

I opened my smartphone and showed them a picture of the Balloon.

"Look."

"Eek."

"This bastard is a Balloon. If it pops, it makes a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠huge noise and attracts nearby Infected. The Sentient Being is a bastard that looks like a human, you all know that, right?"

"...Yes."

"This one and that one teamed up to attack the logistics center."

Silence.

"It doesn't seem that strong. It would pop if you just fired a gun at it once. And whether they were attracted to it or came together, an Intelligent Creature Cluster attacked. Of course, it wouldn't have been wiped out by just that. There was an internal traitor."

I continued to explain.

The end of the second lieutenant.

The deaths of the people involved with him.

Betrayal.

The massacre of civilians.

Even the Intelligent Creature Cluster and the Balloon. The causes were intertwined.

But the conclusion is.

"...Is it total annihilation...?"

"Exactly."

"...Why on earth would that happen?"

I think Eun-bin said this and I answered when I talked about IN Company before.

"Beats me."

If it were back at Cheongju Elementary School, I would have scolded Eun-bin, but today was an exception.

It was true that I expected that, though.

"Anyway, we need to redraw our plans. The place we could rely on is gone. It means we have to survive on our own."

We have to handle self-sufficiency on our own too.

We also have to handle superpowers and responses to Infected on our own.

Of course, there was something to do before that.

"Tae-jun."

"Yes?"

"Before we do anything, you and I need to go get all the firearms and ammo from the overturned car. Let's empty the Subspace and go. Since it's daytime... Seol-hwa, you come too."

"...Me?"

"Yeah."

The man and woman froze for about 3 seconds.

But they understood what I said.

"Okay..."

"Yes."

"The others, keep watch like usual. We'll talk about the rest after I get back."

"...Yes."

"The atmosphere is really bad."

Leaving I-Pension behind, we headed to Sejong City.

#

I gathered firearms and ammo from the overturned vehicle with Tae-jun.

Enough that there's no worry about guns now.

ㅡClatter

ㅡClatter

As it got brighter, quite a few Infected woke up, but there was no Hunter attack.

I tried detecting with Seol-hwa's ability, but nothing was visible.

I was even prepared to abandon the vehicle.

I waited a bit, expecting pursuit, but there was no such thing.

'I should level up Seol-hwa's ability too.'

That's how we returned to I-Pension without incident.

The atmosphere was the same. Well, that's to be expected.

"U-um, you're back?"

"Yeah. Everyone take what you can carry and put it inside. I'll move it to the door over there, so you guys handle the organizing."

"Ah. Yes."

"Yes."

"......"

"......"

Firearms and ammo piling up.

The expressions of the base members were all different.

I was about to open my mouth, but...

"......"

There was no need to say it, so I shut it.

I'm going to bring people in the future.

If possible, I'll bring them like Seol-hwa.

And I'll use Seo-yoon's ability on them.

If I use Seo-yoon's ability and they have a bad personality or have done fucked up things, I plan to kill them immediately.

If they pass that, the base members will keep them like So-young and Min-ah, or I'll create a zone for those people and send them there.

It would be nice to live among ourselves, but there's nothing 11 people can do.

Farm among ourselves? Or guard livestock? That's also work that requires people.

But finding another group and doing something is impossible.

Right now, even with the logistics center, we had a good relationship and good people, but we were betrayed and now they're wiped out. A single mistake can cost you your life. You can also be betrayed.

That's why it's Seo-yoon.

I'll save people.

To be precise, I'll recruit manpower.

If the number of people increases, we can be self-sufficient. The number of people to keep watch also increases.

If the number of ability users increases, we can defend the base more efficiently. Maybe they could even go into battle with me.

There's also no betrayal.

If so, I didn't think there was a need to deliberately lighten the mood.

Since everyone knows the gravity of the situation, this is better than needlessly relaxing the tension.

'......'

As I was doing that, the firearms and ammo piled up in front of me disappeared.

I also went inside the pension to help.

#

After that, I went straight to sleep.

Since I had worked double, my head hurt too much.

"Ugh..."

When I woke up, it was 4 o'clock.

Since it was around 5~6 when I arrived, it seems I slept for over 10 hours.

Seo-yoon was outside.

Seo-yoon, who had dark circles as if worries had formed in that short time.

However, she didn't necessarily show it.

'She's mature.'

Though 20 is indeed an adult.

She must have her own circumstances.

'......'

She said she has family in Gangdong-gu.

When I go to see if my parents are alive, I should listen to her story a bit.

As I was doing that, Seo-yoon said.

"Oppa, are you awake?"

"Yeah."

"Shall I get you coffee?"

"If you're having some, give me some too."

"Ah. Yes."

"Dinner?"

"I think we'll just have something simple today. Or should I make something else?"

"No, I just asked when we'd eat."

"Ah. Around 5."

"Okay."

I came up with Seo-yoon's coffee. The first room on the 2nd floor.

I sat in the chair and brought a notebook.

Paper I'm holding for the first time in a while.

Content written about IN Company Sejong City something.

I erased everything and rewrote it.

Actually, #2 and #6 are the same.

Because the base will only be reinforced if we recruit humans.

However, the priority was pushed back.

'I do want to check #5 now, though.'

Actually, if the logistics center hadn't been destroyed, I would have gone up to Jeungpyeong County and Cheonan County first. Tried to make contact with the people there,

If they were good people, tried to see if I could connect them with the 32nd Division to form a large group,

Or just extract ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠some information.

'But the logistics center is destroyed.'

Therefore, this is on hold.

And... it's too far. I've thought about it several times. If I'm going up, it has to be to the point where I can go up with our kids entirely.

'...And I'd need a truck that can carry all the chickens and chicks.'

I'm putting this off.

Therefore, what's left is 1, 3, 4.

The three are connected. Of course, the most important thing is superpower enhancement.

'......'

Well, then what else is there? I'll go do #1 first. And find out why the Hunter was there.

However, tonight, April 14th, and the dawn of April 15th, I planned to level up Seol-hwa's ability first.

Because she's the only one with detection ability at our base.

Therefore.

#

Night of April 14th.

I went out with just Seol-hwa.

ㅡBang!

The sound of a gunshot rang out.

ㅡPatter-patter

A Mirror running towards us.

Seol-hwa, who was terrified.

My bullet smashes the Mirror's head.

ㅡThud

ㅡThump!

The Mirror falls.

"You really can't shoot."

"....Sorry."

Seol-hwa offers an apology.

"Nothing to be sorry about. Everyone is good at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠different things. Try again."

"...Okay."

"......"

I came to the underground shopping center with her.

Because up to LV.3, you can easily level up just by catching Mirrors.

ㅡBang!

"Good job. Did it go up?"

"Yeah... the gauge went up by 2."

"Yeah. Use your ability and detect. It's 10m, right?"

"Yeah."

Mirrors, I don't know where the hell they keep crawling out from.

ㅡBang!

ㅡBang!

"Level up."

"Well done."

I was able to raise her level to 3 by grinding away a day's time and bullets.

The ability that came out like that was 20m.

'It's a bit ambiguous.'

It was 10m at lv.2, so the diameter just doubled.

No, this must be a huge increase too.

It was an ability with 50 aptitude to begin with. Considering Second Lieutenant Kim In-seop's Area ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Surveillance ability was in the 70s, this seemed like it would be good for detecting in narrow spaces.

Because it's an ability that can detect both humans and monsters.

'It was said to be an ability to detect creatures above a certain size.'

It's good if you think of it this way.

'Should I say it feels like it has a different purpose?'

However, I couldn't take Seol-hwa around just because of that. She was too vulnerable to external attacks.

Therefore, I had planned to start searching for external personnel while protecting her by teaming up with the 32nd Division later, including Seol-hwa.

'......'

Who would have known the 32nd Division would be wiped out.

Rather than taking her to an infected zone, it seemed better to have her team up with A-rin later to search for wild animals.

Or search the inside of the base thoroughly with her ability when we move later.

If a defense-related ability user appears later, I could take her and Seo-yoon on external activities. For now, I just noted this.

"Let's go back."

"Yeah."

#

That's how April 15th went by.

Night.

I came to Sejong City.

A quiet city.

This time's goal is Hunter hunting. In Korean, it's 'Hunter hunting'.

I don't know how many days it will take, but I set the top priority goal to lv.5. Although lv.4 is powerful, there's still a problem with dealing with guys like Abominations.

'......'

Sejong City is wide, so I planned to aim for lv.5 while hunting here, even if it takes time.

On top of that...

'And check why the Hunter appeared at Sejong City Hall again.'