95. Establishing an Outpost (2)
95. Establishing an Outpost (2)
Multi.
For now, this place is free of Infected.
A village tucked away in a mountain with only one entrance.
I'd say it's actually safer than our main base.
'I've at least placed the Contract on everyone.'
Originally, I planned to just place it on one powerful Ability User and leave them be, but somehow I ended up placing it on everyone.
Actually, this is the right way to do it.
Until we get an Appraiser, it's correct to verify everyone's abilities.
Seo-yoon is at risk, though.
I'll have to figure that out from here on.
I surrounded the Multi area with barricades alongside Kim Ha-eun.
There's only one entrance.
I left that side open and blocked off everything else.
"All done."
"Finished?"
"Yes."
"If this levels up, can you reinforce it? No, wait, you wouldn't know. It's level 1 right now."
"Yeah..."
Looking around,
the other people are busy tidying up inside.
Well, it's true that I need to level them up.
'Hmm...'
The urgent thing is to get Seo-yoon and Kim Young-jin-ssi to level 4.
I could just go to the GP Apartment where the Flowers are.
Getting to level 4 is easy, after all.
I can just handle the defense in front.
It'll consume some bullets, but we have the bullets that were originally at our base, plus a ton I picked up from the lost items last time.
'Let's leave it for now.'
There's nothing else to worry about here for now anyway.
They're people I just brought in and haven't met for long.
Mutual trust... that doesn't matter because of Seo-yoon's ability, but it's better to leave them be for now.
Just toss them some food.
I said to Kim Ha-eun and Jin-woo.
"I'm going to go somewhere, so tidy up on your own. You guys haven't finished organizing the inside yet, right? I've cleared out all the Infected here, so there shouldn't be any."
"Ah. Yes."
#
I arrived at I-Pension.
I found Tae-jun and put some food into Tae-jun's Subspace.
They need some preparation to start self-sufficiency there.
I caught a few chickens to put in, added some preserved food...
"Hyung. Uh, we have meat."
"Frozen? Is there still some left?"
"Ah. Yes. It's still there."
"Then just leave it, I'll give them that too. Is the internal capacity enough?"
"It's tight, but it's okay."
Subspace.
I'll need to increase that too.
It went from 111 to 222, so whether the next is 333 or 444, that's good.
'It's better to just level up all our base members' abilities until the Abomination arrives.'
Without realizing it,
I'm curious to see what happens when those with things like Strength Enhancement level up.
As I was packing this and that with Tae-jun, Seo-yoon slipped over to my side and asked.
"Oppa."
"Yeah?"
"That place... but didn't you say you were originally only going to place the Contract on one person?"
"I did. But since that place can't defend itself, I'm thinking of releasing it once their Water Ability User levels up."
"Aha. You're thinking of only placing it on that Water Manipulation Ability User, right?"
"That's right."
It's an ability with a 93.9 aptitude.
That means it's an ability on par with Pyrokinesis. Plus, since it's a water ability, its versatility will be even greater.
And if I can control just that person, I can leave the rest alone.
They'll naturally defend the base if they have to.
But in the middle of that, Seo-yoon spoke up.
"But Oppa."
"Yeah."
"I think it's right to just place it on everyone."
"Everyone?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Even if it's a Multi... we can't just live on our own. And if I only place it on one person, I don't know what kind of problems might arise with the people below them."
"It'll be hard on you."
It's not that I haven't thought about that.
However, Seo-yoon's risk would increase, and there was a high probability that it would become a hassle for her.
"I should do at least that much. In this world. Plus... maybe it will increase even more when I reach level 4. It was a day, a week, a month. It'll be at least over two months. And..."
Seo-yoon continued.
"We need those Ability Users too. Barricades, water, abilities like that. Rather than placing the Contract only when needed, I think it's better to just make them accustomed to the Contract."
"Make them accustomed, huh."
"Yes."
Certainly... that does seem better.
Because it's better to say I'm placing the mental ability for safety rather than taking them away only when needed to place the mental ability.
"That's true. You're right."
"Yes."
"You must have thought about this quite a bit."
"...That's right. No matter how much I thought about it, that seemed better."
"Is that so. Hmm... then I have to level them up first."
"I understand."
Dealing with people is tough.
It was hard before the apocalypse, but it's even harder now.
"Also, finding someone like an Appraiser."
"...Ah."
As expected of the smart Seo-yoon, she understands immediately.
"Thank you."
She greeted me.
"Don't mention it."
It's obvious.
I can't expose her, someone without defensive abilities, to people who might deceive her.
'Appraisal, or...'
Or another low-level mental ability user.
"I'll be back."
"Yes. Come back safely."
"Yeah. Tae-jun, ready?"
"Yes."
"Let's go."
#
Afterward, I supplied food with Tae-jun.
The thirteen young people who finished tidying up the house. Their faces relaxed when I gave them food.
Especially when I gave them frozen pork, beef, and chicken, their faces looked much better, and the little bit of distrust that remained seemed to have disappeared.
"What is it."
"Uh, we haven't been able to eat anything like this at all."
Jin-woo slipped over and spoke to me.
"Why? There were frozen warehouses too."
"Even if there were, the amount was small."
"Is that so."
Come to think of it, the meat sections at Green Fresh Market or IN Mart were almost all spoiled or looted.
"Anyway, do well. I'll supply you steadily. I'm continuing to raise chickens."
"Really?"
"Yeah. This is fresh chicken."
"R-really."
Jin-woo's eyes go round.
Kim Ha-eun came over and her eyes sparkled too.
"For now, eat this today and keep tidying up. I'll be back in a few days."
"Where are you going?"
"I have to go. To work."
"Ah..."
"For now, just talk amongst yourselves. Jin-woo, Ha-eun, you two observe the people here and tell me if there are any problems."
"Yes."
"Yes."
"Tae-jun."
"Yes?"
"You have those firearms here, right?"
"Yes."
"Take out three of them and about a hundred rounds of ammunition and leave them here."
"Yes."
"......"
"......"
"Alright, everyone, attention."
I held up the firearms and called the people.
People stiffened at the sight of the guns.
"I'm leaving these here. Use them to stand guard. Two of you hold them, and leave one as an emergency backup. Got it? No, wait. Jin-woo, you take charge of these."
"Ah. Yes."
"You can't harm each other anyway because of the Contract, but just in case, be careful. Everyone. I'll be back in a few days. Finish tidying up the inside."
Since the Contract was already placed, there were no problems.
It meant the probability of them lying to me converged to zero.
It really does seem right to do it this way, just as Seo-yoon said.
I left those people behind and returned.
Now I can just go back in a day or two and hear the report on how things went.
#
I returned to I-Pension.
I managed to create the Multi, but I don't know if it will go well.
Anyway, this time I planned to level up our base members.
'I have to level everyone up.'
Including Seo-yoon and Young-jin, I plan to raise all our base members' levels to 4.
At level 1, Walkers and Runners; at level 2, Mirrors; at level 3, Flowers.
They might think it's discrimination, but what can you do.
This is the main base, and I'm the leader.
And it's a place completely controlled by Seo-yoon's Contract.
'Still, it's better to level up all the main base members if possible.'
I don't know how many days it will take, but it's better to try it all.
I have plenty of bullets anyway.
So.
"Seo-yoon."
"Yes."
"Call Young-jin and come here."
"Ah, yes."
Seo-yoon brought Young-jin.
"Uh, you called for me."
"Yes. Because we're going to level up."
Today is the evening of the 18th.
It's been half a day since we dealt with the Abomination.
There was a lot to do over the next 3 days.
"I've packed the firearms. You both know how to do it, right?"
"Yep."
"Yes."
We went up to Cheongju City.
#
The GP Apartment had already been wrecked by Flowers, so I looked for a place where Flowers were still alive.
Flowers aren't hidden away like Mirrors or those types, so I could find quite a lot of them in the apartments inside Cheongju.
'......'
They are gross.
I checked the time while stepping on the crunchy corpses of Flowers.
Dawn of the 19th.
It doesn't take long.
Since my level went up, suppressing Flowers is easier, so it was easy to level up the kids.
Even if it only goes up by 1 at lv.3, I only need to catch 100.
"It went up."
"Good."
Seo-yoon's level went up to 4.
Young-jin's did too. Now he could use his ability like the man at that survivor camp used it.
As for Seo-yoon, well, I'll have to time it.
"Let's go."
For the next two days, I leveled up the rest of the base members.
Yun-ji, A-rin, Eun-bin, Tae-jun, Young-jun, Yu-rim, Seol-hwa, So-young, Min-ah, and even Ji-hye.
I leveled up everyone except for two kids.
That took three days. The 21st.
It was finished exactly on the day I needed to check the Abomination.
'It didn't take long.'
10 people on the 20th. Of course, the bullet consumption was a bit heavy, but there was a benefit just in the fact that the main base members' abilities had increased.
And the bullets, well, I suppressed them all and shot them, so it wasn't that bad.
I had to watch Seo-yoon for a long time to check. I don't know about Eun-bin since there was no one injured.
There were quite a few changes to the abilities I could check immediately.
First, A-rin's ability increased to hundreds. Unlike lv.3, which was 30, now she could run an animal farm.
I'd have to count the number, but she could now control all the dozens of chicks inside the chicken coop.
And Tae-jun.
His 2x2x2 ability evolved to 4x4x4. Now he could fit a small building inside. Of course, that doesn't mean he can fit a real house.
As a porter, and as a storage, it was at a crazy level.
The disappointing thing is
That Arm Enhancement and Strength Enhancement didn't become that powerful?
"That's a bit disappointing."
Yun-ji let out a small sigh.
"...That's right."
Well, it wasn't weak, though.
I thought they'd be able to throw things super hard with Arm Enhancement or Strength Enhancement to punch holes through them, but it was only enough to kill people or regular Infected.
It feels like the enhancement deviation doesn't get that big?
Still, since it felt like they could definitely kill a person, I had to be very careful in close quarters now.
'Of course, I don't know how many people have reached lv.4 in Strength or Arm Enhancement.'
Next is
Seol-hwa's ability.
Since it was 5, 10, 20, I thought it might become 40, and it really was 40.
Well, even so, that was a huge distance.
'It's enough. For watching over our base.'
And unexpectedly, the abilities of the people in their 20s were decent.
So-young's vision turned almost to owl level. She could even see what was written on a sign on a mountain far away.
Seo Ji-hye's hearing became enough to catch even small sounds.
Of course, it wasn't as good as the vision, but it would be useful somehow.
The best one is definitely Kim Young-jin's Plant Growth.
Radish sprouts grow in a day. Even after reaching lv.4, no matter what I did to it, the radish sprouts grew fine. It means once planted, I can harvest without any worries.
'Nice.'
Well, maybe because everyone leveled up, their expressions were bright.
There were many people who were freaked out when they first saw the Flowers, but the firearms played a part in reducing their fear. Guns are definitely more comfortable than close combat.
Especially since self-sufficiency became possible now with Kim Young-jin's ability and A-rin's ability enhancement.
Now we can settle down too.
#
Next is... the Multi, though.
There was a lot of work left, but there was something else I had to check first.
It was the Abomination.
I came to the northern part of Cheongju to check on the Abomination.
Because the Abomination was more urgent than the... Multi.
Since the Hunter's regeneration took 3 days, the Abomination I caught at the end of the 17th should have resurrected.
A monster the size of a 5-6 story building.
And.
'It's there.'
ㅡ......
I could see the Abomination standing still in the distance.