Acknowledging Each Other's Existence - 14
The Responsibility Council members flew into a rage. "Where do you think this is!"
"C-Calm down! This won't solve anything!"
Yeonhyeon immediately raised her gun and aimed it at me. The door swung open, and people armed to the teeth came filing in toward me one after another.
"I've given it some thought, and this seems like the only way to resolve things."
Kim Chaeyun, pinned under my hand, twisted her body desperately, trying to wriggle free from me.
"N-Negotiations are over! If you'd just handed over your base peacefully, we might've spared your life!"
"...From now on, you might want to choose your words more carefully."
I pressed down harder, smashing her face into the floor with brutal force.
"If my patience runs thin... I might end up hurting you more than I should."
She muttered through gritted teeth. "Should've killed you the moment we caught you."
"Still haven't grasped the situation, huh?"
I lifted her head slightly, then slammed it back down onto the desk.
"Aaaargh!"
Then I tossed her aside like trash, right toward Yeonhyeon.
"You can't kill me. On the contrary, you need to respect me—and figure out how to coexist with me."
Sometimes, respect comes from strength. So I had to show them mine.
"Why... why release the hostage yourself?"
Yeonhyeon stared at me with eyes full of incomprehension.
"I told you. We're going to fight."
I forced a smile onto my lips as I gazed at them, desperately holding it there.
"Thrash around all you want."
That way, they'd finally accept the reality that there was nothing they could do.
"...This is your choice!"
Yeonhyeon pulled the trigger, her lips pressed tight in determination.
She figured even I would take some damage from a bullet enhanced by her skill. She didn't aim for vitals. Shooting the head or chest—if he went down, she didn't trust herself to handle the guilt.
Her target was his leg. Cripple his mobility, and he wouldn't rampage like this anymore.
The gunshot rang out.
And he... just stood there, doing nothing, waiting until she fired.
"Huh?"
But it wasn't him who cried out. Instead, Yeonhyeon—the one who'd fired—gaped in shock.
The bullet had ricocheted off.
"Don't panic! He must have a skill! Keep firing!"
Not everyone on the Responsibility Council was a desk-jockey handling admin. A few battle-hardened veterans who'd commanded armed groups remained, and they barked orders without flinching.
Yeonhyeon and her subordinates unleashed a barrage without pause.
But he took every shot like it was nothing. Deflected them all.
"...Why go this far?"
"This is the only way to show you... that resisting me is pointless."
The psychological warfare was working beautifully. If he'd dodged, they'd have kept pouring lead, chalking the first miss up to luck.
But here, in perfect stability, they watched every single bullet rendered harmless right before their eyes.
An unbelievable sight.
"Cl-Close in! He's got a ranged defense skill—melee will be his weakness!"
The bellowing council member's order made perfect sense, public fear be damned. It was basic logic.
No one had infinite skill slots. Strength in one area meant weakness in another.
Soon, organization members charged with swords and spears.
"Gah!"
The first one to reach me screamed and writhed in agony instantly.
I didn't dodge. Instead, as her blade closed in, I stepped forward and stomped her foot hard.
Then yanked her arm down, sending her tumbling across the floor.
"Kyaaah!"
But they weren't coming one by one. This wasn't a duel between me and Seven Seed.
Seizing the opening, another thrust a spear at my side.
Pointless, of course. His body had shrugged off bullets without a flinch.
She probably had spear-related skills, but they meant nothing against me.
I wrenched the spear free, then crushed her shoulder with the shaft.
She lost balance instantly, crashing face-first into the ground.
"N-No! Let go!"
A survivor with a dagger slipped in close, trying to bury it deep in my chest.
Or so she attempted.
I took the hit nonchalantly, then lifted her by the throat with ease.
"Fine. You're free."
Lifted just enough to choke her slightly, then dropped low and slammed her down.
The organization members were subdued in seconds.
"...You really like the floor, huh?"
"Fists might be hard to control."
Yeonhyeon sensed a terror in his words she'd never felt before.
'Of course.'
Those issuing orders assumed it was a "skill," naturally.
But Yeonhyeon knew better. The drug that forcibly locked levels at 1. A rare item hard to obtain even in larger settlements—she'd been feeding it to him steadily.
Right before this interrogation began, she'd administered it herself.
He'd swallowed it without issue, and given the stakes, she'd double-checked multiple times.
That left only one possibility.
'This man... isn't strong because of his level...'
Terror gripped her.
She'd rarely seen men up close, but none matched this one's strength or beauty.
Maybe this was what a real man was. An existence no ordinary woman could defy, one that made her feel inferior just by existing.
Doubtful he was even human.
Not even a Goliath could beat him in a contest of strength.
A body that repelled bullets with flesh alone. If he unleashed those muscles in full-force punches, she and her subordinates wouldn't last.
"Ahh..."
Now she understood. He feared nothing.
Of course. No reason to.
Would an adult woman fear a settlement guarded by toddlers with wooden toy swords and mud guns? Their antics would seem laughable. Knowing they couldn't harm her, fear was unnecessary.
No terror at being "imprisoned." Those babies couldn't hurt her anyway.
No need for anger, no fretting over petty gains or losses. No sacrifices for survival or safety.
This wasn't humans viewing humans anymore.
"Request reinforcements! Call everyone!"
He only blocked the council from escaping—didn't aggressively target others.
New hunters from the settlement trembled at the pile of downed ones, realized he was the cause, attacked... and fell to him. Rinse and repeat.
Soon, every woman there felt an overwhelming dread.
'That guy's... a man.'
They knew, too. How ruthless and cruel men could be toward those they saw as "debtors."
They just hadn't experienced it. Few men around, and issues resolved through talks or compromises with their women, not direct confrontation.
But not now.
It had to stop.
Yeonhyeon realized this and frantically scanned around.
Naturally, the council was smarter than her. They'd known longer.
But they couldn't choose to end it here. That meant their doom.
They knew victory was impossible, yet clung to the delusion "maybe he's reaching his limit," keep ordering attacks.
Yeonhyeon was scared too. But if someone had to decide, it was her.
"EVERYONE, STOP!!!"
Yeonhyeon screamed.
The charging members seemed relieved—they might not end up as another fainted woman rolling on the floor under him.
She took a deep breath.
Then prostrated herself before him.
Not much floor space left amid the fallen women. To bow properly, she shoved one aside slightly.
"We were wrong!"
Her cry silenced the entire room.