EP.40 You're Barely Safe. Lucky Bastards.
“Ah, but what the hell are those guys?”
They looked a bit different from the hundreds of beasts that lowly bastard—the breeder who thought he was hot shit—had brought...
I glanced once more at the bastard still yapping desperately at me from where he was tightly bound to that tall pole, refusing to give up even now. Then I turned my eyes back to the cluster of bean sprouts huddled about 100 or 200 meters away.
“Given that rat bastard's personality, they're probably not his backup... What, some pack of hyenas or something?”
They'd hung back at that distance to check the outcome between me and the beasts. If the beasts won, they'd follow along and scavenge whatever scraps they could... Something like that, right?
“Mm, yeah. Society always runs the same way, doesn't it? Before or after the apocalypse, first round or second.”
I briefly considered hitting that hyena pack with an Explosion scroll—the same one I'd used to cleanly torch the regular beasts at the start—and then heading inside. But since the five beasts, led by the lowly bastard, had thoroughly satisfied me with their Russian roulette and other ass-clown fantasies...
This time, in my infinite magnanimity, I decided to let them off.
“Besides, they haven't directly attacked my hotel or shown any hostility... Yeah. You're barely safe. Lucky bastards.”
And with hyenas like that spreading rumors everywhere, I wouldn't have to deal with another annoying circus like this anytime soon...
With that perfectly rational conclusion—even King Solomon would approve—I turned away from the bastard's pitiful face, now even more wretched than before, lest even I start bawling my eyes out if I kept looking.
“──!! ───!!! ────!!!!!”
I slammed shut the grand front doors of the hotel.
Lowly bastard. No more, no less. Just keep screaming like that for exactly one week. One week.
“Eh, that should be plenty as an example.”
With the beasts' circus wrapping up after about an hour, I first sent the NPCs—defense mode deactivated, combat mode off—pouring back into the hotel. As the very last one, I entered the lobby and closed the first-floor door behind me.
“Now... Gayeon should've soothed the two little ones in the master bedroom, right?”
Harboring that minor worry, I quickened my steps toward my private express elevator.
“Ugh, urk...!!”
Na Ho-guk, who had been using Clairvoyance to monitor the chaos in front of the Apocalypse Hotel and relaying it live to Choi Jisoo and the shelter's elite members, suddenly gulped hard.
From the moment the first gunshots rang out earlier, Choi Jisoo had immediately ordered the shelter folks—armed and in combat mode—to stand down.
Now, with a voice that had regained some calm, she asked Na Ho-guk, “What... what is it? Why the sudden reaction?”
Of course, that didn't erase the fear and mix of emotions from the Apocalypse Hotel's insane firepower, which had wiped out hundreds of raiders in under five minutes. It seeped right into her question.
“J-just now! That hotel owner... or whatever that masked figure is... he looked this way. I swear, our eyes met exactly...!!”
“What?! E-everyone! Fall back further right now! Retreat! Everyone, pull back!!! 100 meters—no, 500 meters back!!”
The source of that monstrous firepower. Reports said at least a thousand women, easy, each armed to the teeth. If the hotel's owner had noticed them...?
“N-not just guns! They could have grenades too!! Everyone, just run back to the shelter!!! Farther, farther!!!!!”
Choi Jisoo handled the shelter's internal affairs and rarely issued combat orders—or experienced real fights since the shelter stabilized. She wasn't a combat expert. But Na Ho-guk, fully freaked out, along with the hunting team leaders and members—the shelter's core elites—all followed her urgent command without a word.
Only after the panicked Na Ho-guk and Apgujeong Shelter elites fled far from the Apocalypse Hotel in the middle of Gangnam Station's Gangnam Boulevard—reaching their base near the northern edge of Gangnam, right up against Gangbuk—did they finally catch their breath.
“...Hoo. For now... once we're back at the shelter, everyone rest up. We'll debrief and plan tomorrow morning.”
“Y-yeah, sounds good. Haha... In the end, nothing happened to us, so that's a relief. Those trash got what they deserved. And our Soyeon and Da-hee...”
Gulp—!
Na Ho-guk, chiming in to the elites, suddenly swallowed hard. The others watching him tensed up for no reason.
“Th-they're in such a safe hotel, protected... No real worry there. Haha...”
.
Back at Apgujeong Shelter, the elites dispersed to their quarters. Na Ho-guk and Choi Jisoo gathered alone in her room for a serious talk.
“...That hotel. What the fuck is it?! No, that ridiculous... It's totally balance-breaking, isn't it?!”
Alone with his childhood friend as usual, Na Ho-guk vented freely to Choi Jisoo without hiding his shock.
“I told you from the start, that place is special. It popped up on day 100, when we awakened our unique skills. Of course it's weird as hell.”
“Yeah, you hinted at it in yesterday's final meeting... Me and the other leaders and members were on alert. But come on, there's a limit to weird. That was way too...”
“...I'm just as shocked. Conventional wisdom says all firearms—guns, bombs, anything hot—were scrapped, right?”
“Exactly! That's my issue too! If that masked guy, the hotel owner, had started with lightning or that insane explosion that torched the bodies... fine. But this...”
Na Ho-guk's face grew deadly serious as he continued cautiously, saying what he couldn't in front of the elites.
“Shouldn't we move the shelter somewhere else? With that firepower...”
“Nah, not yet... We need to watch the situation more. But I think we're fine for now.”
“...Huh? Why?”
“If the owner wanted, all of Gangnam would be his already. Right?”
Unlike him, she'd regained her usual composure since arriving. Her laid-back response made Na Ho-guk nod instinctively.
“Uh... yeah? Makes sense. A thousand—no, two thousand women easy. That huge 100-story hotel, plus the grounds...”
“And it's been quiet this whole time, even farming out free supplies every business day. So either it's a special event zone... or the owner's a super benevolent, peaceful awakener.”
“...Huh? How'd you get there?”
“Tsk, think about it. Event zone? All those women are NPCs, explains why they never leave. This time, trash attacked directly, so they defended.”
She uncapped a 500ml water bottle, quenching her thirst, then laid out the next theory.
“Or if it's a human awakener like us with a day-100 unique skill... No generous soul hands out unlimited supplies otherwise. Definitely not a bad guy. Those trash had it coming.”
“...Yeah. True. Makes sense. Spot on.”
“Just speculation, though. And even if human, couldn't deploy all those women outside. Otherwise, no need for this complicated distribution.”
Na Ho-guk nodded vigorously at her added explanation—like, why not just send the staff out for relief?
“Right. Yeah. I was just spooked for nothing.”
“Anyone would be. And you saw it all up close with Clairvoyance.”
At her words, Na Ho-guk shuddered, recalling the gruesome scene.
“...No sending people there for farming or hunting anytime soon.”
“Obviously. Dice might reopen soon, but let's watch a month. Check communities, rumors.”
“Got it. Even if other execs push back, safety first.”
Na Ho-guk absently rubbed his chest, thinking of the two women inside: Lee Soyeon and Shin Da-hee.
“But hey... not a total loss. Soyeon and Da-hee in that hotel? Zero worries now. Right? Haha.”
Regaining his usual bravado with a big laugh, Na Ho-guk earned a pitiful look from Choi Jisoo, who soon smirked.
“Yeah. Worried enough? Get to your room... Nah. Wanna sleep with your big sis for old times' sake? Our scaredy-cat Ho-guk gonna piss himself like when he was a baby?”
“...Huh? What? Sudden roast outta nowhere...?”
“Shelter leader can't act like that. C'mere. Sis'll sing you a lullaby tonight. Like old days.”
Days ago, with Lee Soyeon—whom Na Ho-guk was smitten with—out of the picture, Choi Jisoo had resolved to claim her childhood friend. She casually stripped off her top, revealing her bra, and Na Ho-guk bolted upright in shock.
He dashed for the door. “You crazy bitch, what the hell?! I'm out! Lock the damn door right!!”
Bam—!
Staring at the trembling, flushed-faced scaredy-cat as he slammed the door, Choi Jisoo burned with determination inside.
That eunuch bastard! I threw myself at him like that and still...!?
Her mind, once guilty over the sweet little sister Lee Soyeon, now felt utterly refreshed.
Days ago, thanks to Soyeon's secret messenger pigeon and the enclosed item.
Recalling it from Na Ho-guk's wimpy reaction, she pulled the letters from her Inventory and read them slowly.
“Hm hm. Our pretty Soyeon's too damn nice for her own good...”
[Jisoo unnie, this is a secret messenger pigeon from me. Check it alone!]
[First, enclosed is a Slime King Fragment item. Effect is...]
[Ho-guk oppa and I are really nothing...]
[I've been ambiguous to not ruin things between you and oppa...]
[Honestly, in this world, I don't hate capable oppa, but that spot next to him belongs to you more than me...]
[And I'll be stuck in this hotel for years at least. Can't make you wait that long—army service is only 18 months.]
[So, unnie who's always guarded oppa's side—go claim him first...! I'll cheer from afar!]
[Your foolish little sis, Lee Soyeon.]