94. Establishing an Outpost (1)
94. Establishing an Outpost (1)
The Cheongju Seoknamcheon Survivor Camp was quickly cleaned up.
Since Choi Hyuk, who possessed a level 4 Pyrokinesis ability, was dead, there were no other Ability Users left among them.
ㅡBang!
They had bullets, but bullets were meaningless.
The pistol floated in the air, aiming at its owner.
"Uh... uhhh...!"
The man was terrified.
The trigger was pulled.
ㅡBang!
The man died with his head pierced through.
Following that, metal flew and pierced the heads of the humans.
The tense people saw that scene and scrambled to run away.
"What about that person?"
"You can kill them."
Following Jin-woo's words, I cleaned up the people.
I killed the ones running away in terror.
"What about that one?"
"No."
"Alright."
I subdued the normal-looking people for now as well.
Because it would be annoying if they ran off somewhere.
Like that, I took care of nineteen in total, and subdued twelve, including Jin-woo.
Watching three women getting raped wasn't exactly a pleasant sight, though.
There were people running away, but since they fled using things like cars, capturing them was easy.
Because I can easily subdue a car or two.
I gathered the people who were all tied up.
ㅡMmph!
ㅡ!@$!
People making strange noises.
I called Jin-woo.
"Leave them there, I'll untie them, so you explain it to them."
"...Are you really going to untie them?"
"If they don't want to stay, I have to let them go. Let them fend for themselves."
I have no intention of forcing people who don't want to stay.
"...I'll explain it well."
"Yeah. Actually, no. I can't trust you."
I released their restraints.
The people were coughing.
Counting the numbers, there were six men and six women.
This fits perfectly.
That guy named Kim Hyun-jun was the Light Ability user, and the rest seem to be all Strength or Stamina types.
The women are probably similar.
I pondered what to say, then opened my mouth.
"It's hard to explain the details, but first of all, I killed that person named Choi Hyuk who was here. The other humans, too."
"......"
"I spared you guys after hearing Jin-woo's story. I assume you were either exploited here or did things similar to those bastards. Jin-woo set the criteria. It's that kind of world. You guys know, right? You've felt it all while living for the past 5 months."
The people's gazes turned toward Jin-woo.
I continued.
"So, I'm going to make a proposal. Jin-woo has already agreed. I have a similar place on my side. You have two choices: go there, or go outside and live alone. If you go there, well, you'll have to work hard to earn your keep, but there won't be any walking on eggshells, exploitation, or rape like here. There won't be any violence either, as long as you don't act like idiots."
There's plenty of food anyway.
I can just go to the logistics center and bring it.
Farming can be done with Kim Young-jin's ability.
And it seems like they have most of the seeds here too.
"There will be some restrictions, but I'll tell you about that if you agree. So, who's going?"
The people looked at each other.
They seemed not to understand what this situation was yet.
Well, it must feel like the world turned upside down overnight.
'How annoying.'
Still, I have to be thorough.
They are people I'll be using as labor from now on.
I waited without saying anything.
"No one?"
"...Um."
In the meantime, a woman raised her hand.
I asked.
"Alright. What's your name?"
"Kim Ha-eun."
That must be that 'someone' of Jin-woo's.
She just looks decent.
"Why?"
"If we go... what kind of work will we do?"
"Farming, carrying luggage, stuff like that. To eat and live. You have to be self-sufficient."
"...Are there also Ability Users related to farming there?"
A smart question.
"That's right. However, I'll only send them to your side when there's work."
"Ah..."
"Any other questions?"
This time, another man asked.
"Um..."
"Yeah."
"Then, can you tell us what that restriction is?"
"I can't tell you that right now. This is important information for our side. But it won't be anything harmful to you. If anything, it'll be better."
"Ah..."
Another man raised his hand.
"Yeah."
"How are we supposed to trust... you...?"
"Isn't the fact that I didn't kill you proof enough to trust me?"
"......."
The man's mouth shut.
This time, a man who looked a bit older asked.
"Um."
"Yeah."
"Can we talk among ourselves?"
"Sure. Listen to Jin-woo. He's a guy I know."
I signaled to Jin-woo.
About 10 minutes passed like that.
Everyone agreed to follow me.
It seemed to be thanks to Jin-woo.
Well, it's not like I'm a total stranger, but the fact that I saved him once in the past must have been a big factor.
I explained about the Contract ability.
About the mental-related ability.
And I said I would place it on everyone. To prevent them from doing anything stupid.
"......"
"......"
The people were anxious, but they agreed.
Actually, I forced them to agree.
If they didn't like it, they should have left earlier.
Because I clearly stated it.
Originally, like I told Seo-yoon before, I was going to just bind their heads and leave the rest alone. But no matter how I look at it, I'm just too uneasy, so that won't do.
'I need to raise Seo-yoon to lv.4.'
I should do that first once this is over.
Following that, I received the personal details of the people from Jin-woo.
In order of name, age, and ability.
Jin-woo, 20, Strength Enhancement.
Kim Ha-eun, 20, Barricade.
Bae Ju-a, 22, Light Ability.
Kim Hyun-jun, 20, Water Manipulation.
Kim Yun-hyun, 23, Arm Enhancement.
Lee Hyun-ji, 23, Strength.
Seo Jin-ho, 25, Strength.
Jeong Na-ra, 25, Stamina.
Lee Woo-jin, 21, Strength.
Han Seo-jin, 21, Stamina.
Hwang Ji-min, 21, Stamina.
Hwang Su-bin, 21, Strength.
Most of the survivors were Strength and Stamina types. The fact that there were many people with Vision and similar abilities, but none here, means Choi Hyuk must have taken care of them.
"We can take these two vehicles. Anyone who can drive a truck?"
"Me."
"Me too..."
There were quite a few people who could drive. Even trucks.
It was a pretty big truck, but I didn't think there would be any problems.
After that, I'm going to take something from here.
"Is there anything to take?"
People looked at each other.
Jin-woo said.
"Um, for us, maybe just the crops? I think there might be something inside there."
"Ah, where Choi Hyuk's group lived? You mean where I saved the women earlier, right?"
"Yes."
"Then the others, go get those crop seeds and stuff. Jin-woo and I will go in there and pack up."
"Yes."
We went inside the place where Choi Hyuk was living.
We searched the inside.
What came out were pistols. I packed all of these, and all the bullets and taser cartridges.
Stab-proof vests, bulletproof vests.
I'll pack these too, just in case.
I can have the Multi members wear these.
"There's a lot of stuff."
"Yeah, really."
The inside had more stuff than I thought.
"Don't you know about this?"
"I've been farming for a while too, and I've been here for a bit. These weren't here back then."
"They must have robbed a police station."
"Yes. I think so."
I robbed Jin-woo and Choi Hyuk's house.
However, it didn't seem like there was any connection to IN Company or the Warlords here.
All that came out were police station items.
'Tasers and pistols, huh.'
Not bad.
Although it didn't look that great since we have rifles and submachine guns at our base.
In Korea, if you have this, you'd be grateful unless you're a Warlord.
When we went outside, people were loading food and various other things onto the trucks like crazy.
I decided to come back later to pick up the rest.
We started moving by truck and car.
#
At the Bugang-myeon Office, I placed the Contract and verified them one by one.
It took several hours just for the verification.
Because it took some time to figure out their abilities.
Especially for the Barricade and Water ability users, there was a lot to ask.
I asked Kim Ha-eun.
"So you can block regular metal chunks. Like pistol bullets. It's lv.1, but it's pretty strong, huh?"
"Yes."
"You came from Daeyongcho, right?"
"Yes."
"You're dating Jin-woo? Are you sure you like him?"
Kim Ha-eun's face turned red.
"Yes."
"But then you got targeted by Choi Hyuk's group there."
"...Ugh... yes... do you have to ask even that?"
"I have to be thorough. Well, that's not important. As for why your Barricade ability was left at lv.1... it seems to be because of your ability's intensity. Right?"
"I don't know. They... didn't call me separately."
"Well, that's fine. What do you think about the current situation?"
"Mmph... ugh... I don't know. I'm scared, but I also think it might be okay. Haa..."
Kim Ha-eun sighed.
True, the Contract ability. Mental abilities are insanely broken.
"This is too much."
"I'm the type who believes in being thorough with these things."
"......."
"For now, I might raise your ability later. It's a necessary ability. Come out when I call you later."
"Okay."
"Whatever, that's enough."
After that, I called the Water Manipulation ability user.
A man the same age as Jin-woo.
He looked at me with a nervous face.
"Kim Hyun-jun. Age 20. Ability is Water Manipulation. lv.1, right?"
"Yep."
"What can you do at lv.1?"
"I can create water."
"How much?"
"About a palmful."
"Can you shoot it or float it?"
"Yes. I can, but... it's just like playing with water."
Playing with water.
I thought he could use this as an attack ability too.
"Let's raise yours later too. I think the ability can be used for attacks. But when that happens, I'll have to place a stronger Contract on you. How about it? Do you want to raise your level? Or live like this?"
"......"
The man hesitated slightly.
Since the Contract is on him, this must mean he's genuinely contemplating it.
"Looks like you need some time. Think about it and decide. Live here for now. But if you raise it, you'll probably become the leader here."
"Yes."
The man's eyes changed.
Well, that's how it would be.
But for me, it was good to cultivate that ability.
Water, huh.
Subsequent verification.
This one was the same. People who were at the Daeyongcho shelter and got caught by Choi Hyuk.
People who were outside and got caught.
I handled everyone with the Contract ability.
'Come to think of it, Seo-yoon is a bit dangerous at times like this.'
I can block bullets, but if they come hiding other abilities, there's no answer.
Then I need an Appraisal ability user, sigh, Park Si-woo, should I have just kept him and used him?
No. Thinking about a dead person just makes me feel bad.
Even so, the reason I feel like shit is probably because I have a fundamental distrust of humans.
I returned to the Multi.
People getting off awkwardly.
I opened my mouth.
"Looking at the map from here to here, this is where you guys will live."
I continued the explanation.
About the main base and the Multi.
The guns and Ability Users inside. Even the mental ability users I saw earlier.
"Originally, I wanted to bring you guys to our side, but there's no room. Well, it's not like there's discrimination just because it's the Multi... Let's get along well from now on."
People nodding.
The reaction felt like they were forcing it.
Of course, there's also the feeling that they haven't adapted yet.
Well, they are people who have been exploited. It's the same either way.
Time will solve this.
Now, I had to do some Multi-raising.
People chose houses and went in.
There's enough housing for 13 people.
I followed Jin-woo to where Kim Ha-eun went.
"Ah, Jin-woo. Uh..."
"It's Kim Yu-seong."
"Yes. Yu-seong... ssi."
The woman was awkward.
I asked her.
"Can you keep making barricades?"
"Yes. It's possible."
"Is that so."
This was the good thing about this ability. Without mana or anything, you can just make it as long as you have the stamina.
"Let's do some work with me."