Exodus Arcadia

The shopping cart rattled as Kang Ahyeon pulled it from the bed of the pickup truck. She gathered the rifles, magazine pouches, and ammunition belts that had fallen to the ground and loaded them inside. She’d found the cart while searching the supermarket. Something that could carry a lot of items at once and made transporting them easier. For some reason, it felt essential for surviving this brutal apocalyptic world. You could even call it a beloved cart. I was planning to give it a name. For example… Luggage? Calling it Luggage would overlap with Ahyeon, though. If you really thought about it, Ahyeon was luggage, but she was the kind of luggage that killed people. If I later attached something like a machine gun to the shopping cart, I could upgrade it to a Murder Basket, but until then, it was roughly useful at about 0.5 Ahyeon level. Anyway, it was a good thing.

Just watching Ahyeon diligently collect the items and stack them neatly in the cart put me in a good mood. There were several rifles, countless magazines, and if we played our cards right, we might get an even better haul. These bastards had nice shoes, too. Jackets, shoes, watches, lighters… No pistols, but every time we rummaged through them, good stuff kept pouring out. This was a jackpot. It had been worth risking getting shot to death.

I tried not to let my rough breathing show as I forced the two men in front of me to their knees. The one who had lost consciousness was a bonus. Of course, I had no intention of keeping this bastard alive for long.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

No skills, but he had a trait and martial arts. Maybe his combat grade was lower than mine? Even experts say there’s no end to learning, and the attached effects looked pretty good. That simple name really struck a chord. It must be that powerful, right? Even the trait itself wasn’t bad. It seemed like it would pair well with the back kick.

I was a bit puzzled how someone with this trait hadn’t seen through Ahyeon’s act. It just proved how extraordinary her performance was. She had intended it that way, and the guy had actually noticed me charging in and tried to respond immediately. It was a good thing I was faster than his reaction.

I suppressed the urge to kill him right away. They were all going to die anyway. Instead, I gripped the rifle with both hands, aimed it from my hip, and watched them. At this distance, CQB would ensure I didn’t miss. Even if they rushed me, my Master-level combat skills would handle it just fine. Knowing that, they didn’t resist and simply placed their hands behind their heads. The show of force had been effective. They were trembling in fear, watching my every move.

Rather than pressing them for information, I let my body—which had been moving vigorously—rest while my sister busied herself. Honestly? I had been a little scared until the moment I charged in. I had a gun, and they had guns too. Even though I knew my Master-level CQB, shooting, and combat skills meant my shots would hit accurately, there was no guarantee I’d survive if I got hit. Dodging by watching the muzzle only worked with single-shot firearms. Hearing the continuous fire made my hands shake and my nerves tighten. If you get hit, you die. Fighting while knowing that wasn’t easy. The gunshots were loud, too.

That’s why, even though I could have calmly aimed and taken them down one shot at a time, I ended up using more bullets than necessary. Roughly… twenty-seven rounds? I fired five .22 caliber shots, and my sister used all five .38 caliber rounds from her revolver. …How many were left? I didn’t know. Ahyeon was the one keeping track of the ledger.

So I just stood there, trying to look imposing. It was fine even if I asked questions later. About ten minutes passed. My sister finally gathered everything and loaded it into the Luggage.

“Oppa, I’m done organizing.”

“Really? Show me what we got.”

“Let’s see… Fourteen rifles! But about four of them are in bad condition. Maybe because they fell? Or they might not have maintained them properly.”

Fourteen rifles. Even if we replaced them whenever they broke, that was enough to last us a long while. If we had the right tools, we could even use them for repair parts.

“And?”

“There are fourteen ammo belts. Magazine pouches… two each, so twenty-eight?”

“The numbers are jumping all over the place. What about magazines?”

“Fifty-four!”

“Whoa, that’s a lot. Nice. Give me one. No, two. Fully loaded ones.”

“Okay~”

She handed me the magazines in a voice full of aegyo.

Unlike the polymer magazines, these were the classic opaque kind. I liked that. I loaded them into the magazine pouches and looked at everything piled in the cart.

The list Insight spat out wasn’t bad. Actually, it was good. I’d burned through quite a few rounds laying suppressive fire on the Centurion, but this felt like solid resupply. Satisfied, I slid a fresh magazine into my rifle. The original magazine had only held about three rounds. I put the spare in a pouch and handed the polymer magazine back to my sister. We didn’t have many polymer ones anyway. With this many standard magazines, I could probably just discard them when empty and reload on the fly. Or maybe conserve them a bit.

“Take it to the car for now.”

“Ah.”

“Hm?”

“Aren’t you going to check the other cars?”

“Oh, right. We should see what’s in them… but we need to tidy up first, so put it away.”

“Got it~”

The men were rolling their eyes as they watched me talk with my sister. Where should I start asking? Despite my attempt to look intimidating, they were just blankly staring at Ahyeon as she moved around. Ha, maybe I should have made her wear something other than jeans? No, they probably would have stared anyway.

I stared at the guy who was gawking like an idiot, then—

Crack!

I swung my leg in one swift motion and kicked him square in the face. The feeling of his nasal bone shattering. A sensation I’d grown familiar with from all the recent fights. Thanks to my Agility helping me control the force, he only tumbled backward instead of having his head explode. He screamed hoarsely, clutching his nose as blood poured out. A broken nose hurts like hell. It interferes with breathing and kills your will to fight. I’d never broken one myself, but that was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the kind of knowledge that came with Master-level combat skills. Oh, and there was the injury probability bonus too. Was that why I’d shattered it so easily?

I listened quietly to his shrieks. Only then did someone else groan. The middle-aged man who seemed to be their leader—the one I’d knocked unconscious—was getting up.

“My head… what the…”

He quickly assessed the situation the moment he stood. His eyes darted around. No weapon in his hands, he was on the ground, and his subordinate was screaming while holding his face. He understood the situation. He looked at me. At me, aiming the rifle at him. Would he resist? Try to fight back? He seemed pretty well-trained in Taekwondo, so—

“There seems… to be a misunderstanding.”

Oh? Surprisingly, he raised his hands and placed them behind his head like his subordinate. He had good situational awareness. That was unexpected. He’d been openly ogling my sister with naked greed, so I’d assumed he was a brainless idiot. I thought he’d be the type to act purely on desire without restraint. It must have shown on my face how surprised I was. He looked at me and moved his lips.

“I don’t know why… you launched this attack. But we are affiliated with the government.”

Government affiliated. I took a closer look at their weapons. Fourteen assault rifles, each with two magazines. Enough to unload on me without hesitation. It had been dizzying, but thinking about it, it didn’t feel like they’d fired that much simply out of fear for their lives.

“You probably heard… there’s an island called Exodus Arcadia. It’s ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a resort. A huge island connected to the mainland by two bridges. That’s where we came from.”

They were getting ammunition resupplied, so they could afford to expend it. The odds were high that the government stood behind them. Whether that government was still functioning properly was another question.

I kept my rifle trained on him in silence.

“This is—”

“Shh.”

I placed my index finger over my lips and made a short sound.

“I’m the one asking questions. Just answer.”

His mouth opened then closed. He was quick on the uptake.

“Is Exodus Arcadia still operating?”

“Operating…? No, it’s not really operating…”

“What about the theme park?”

“Not… doing that either…”

“You said government. Is the President there?”

“The President? The President isn’t the entirety of the government…”

When I aimed the gun at him, Kim Chae-hyun shut his mouth. He really was quick. Just like his Nanggojisang trait suggested.

“No, His Excellency the President is not present, but the Mayor has established a provisional government with the assistance of the military.”

That made sense. In a world overrun by zombies and variants, if you wanted to secure that level of armament, partnering with the military was the right move. But something still felt off. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what. Still, the rest of his explanation was logical and didn’t stray far from what he’d said earlier.

Exodus Arcadia. The former theme park and resort island had excellent positioning and now served as the seat of the provisional government. The two bridges were protected by military forces and had successfully held back the zombies. It didn’t sound like everything was running perfectly, though. The people inside were protected, but many were also conscripted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as reservists, civil defense personnel, or militiamen. The eleven men we’d killed seemed to fit that description. They were drafted militiamen, civil defense, and reservists. Some had received basic training, others hadn’t. No wonder they’d shot pretty well. A few moments had been genuinely dangerous.

There was other information too. They were farming inside. The two bridges leading in were heavily guarded and impossible to break through. The Mayor was an exceptionally capable person, and thanks to him, Exodus Arcadia was functioning properly. There had been an election, and the Mayor had been chosen as interim President. An election, huh. I didn’t even remember who the President had been before all this. Probably someone the cult had backed. The Saeneul cult had that kind of power.

I listened to it all and then realized something. This bastard hadn’t mentioned the really important parts. Two of them, in fact.

I lowered the muzzle of my gun and said, “All that sounds good.”

“Uh, uh?”

“There are things you’re not telling me. It’s bothering me.”

He stared at me blankly. I met his gaze in silence before speaking.

“Why did you come here?”

He closed his mouth. His pupils barely trembled, but the moment they met mine, they wandered for a second.

“And… what did you do with the people you found here?”

My instincts and countless questions were screaming. With all this Rapture bullshit, had the cult really let no one escape? I knew that wasn’t the case. There must have been at least a few people who escaped by car. Where would those cultists have gone? Maybe they came here and saw that pamphlet?

“You captured them. What did you do with them?”

The self-proclaimed Saeneul cult claimed ten million followers in the country alone. Whether that number was real or not, the fact that they claimed it meant it was at least close. And a city and resort island located near the cult’s headquarters… could they really have remained completely untouched by the cult’s influence? Could the Mayor truly know nothing about the cult? And perhaps. Had they figured out—or already known—that all this Rapture madness was the cult’s doing?

“I…”

These guys had come here to find people who had escaped the cult. They were conducting periodic visits to locate those who had fled the cult. Why? I had a feeling I already knew the answer.

“You’re looking for the cult leader, aren’t you?”

The cause of all this Rapture. But they weren’t looking for him out of a sense of justice. It was because the cult leader was the one who held miracles in his hands. The being who had grown the cult using skills and resources obtained from the Shop. The sole savior in this fucked-up world.

The man stiffened. His eyes widened in shock. For a moment, hostility flashed in the gaze directed at me. Sensing someone else’s hostility and hiding your own were two different things. Kim Chae-hyun was clumsy.

“I don’t kn—”

He stopped mid-sentence and moved. He pulled something hidden inside his leather jacket. What he drew and aimed was a pistol. Not the .22 caliber powder pistol I had, nor the revolver my sister carried, but a proper automatic handgun.

But.

Thup!

I was faster. I drew the powder pistol from my waist and fired first. The wound wasn’t dramatic. There wasn’t even a spray of blood. Just his head snapping back as if struck, a small hole punched through, and then he collapsed forward.

Clatter.

As the automatic pistol hit the ground, something rose in the corner of my vision, answering in the man’s place.

…

What they wanted was the cult leader. The zombie who had already been killed by me.