Chapter 221
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 221
Chapter Title: Demanding the Women
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“Jeong Su-ah, her niece Jeong Hye-bin, Jeon Yu-jin who’s Jeong Su-ah’s older sister-in-law, Lee Ha-yoon the former patrol officer, Hwang Yu-na the former kindergarten teacher, and Jin Dan-ah the ex-airline stewardess. That makes six.”
“...Th-that! ...That’s ridiculous!”
“...Oh, and the baby Jeon Yu-jin’s raising, about 14 or 15 months old, can come along too since it can’t be separated from its mother. The rest have no family left anyway, so no real ties holding them back—just tell them to come.”
“...”
“And why’s it ridiculous? Hey, Village Chief—oh, by the way, we’re calling you Village Chief, so from now on, you’re the chief of this apartment village. Anyway, Village Chief. You formed that ‘half-apartment alliance’ to screw us over, and that was fine, but this isn’t?”
“......!!”
“And you know damn well why this place is safe. You know we’re busting our asses protecting it with drones.”
“...”
I had both the power and the justification.
“I know you fuckers were planning to stab me in the back, and I’ve got dozens of military drones, got it?”
“...Th-that...”
“What?”
“...B-but... we can’t just... force the women to...”
“Haha, let’s cut the bullshit. I know you deliberately sent over the women you didn’t like before, killing two birds with one stone.”
“...”
“...Oh, wait a sec. Don’t you guys have a gift for me?”
“...You already knew everything.”
“Yeah.”
The Village Chief gestured to the people behind him, and a few headed toward the apartment complex. They soon dragged back a man bound and gagged in a black balaclava.
“...A token of our goodwill and a gift to you.”
“More like an apology and an expression of regret.”
“...”
“Take off the balaclava.”
When they removed it, a gaunt man appeared, skin and bones from barely eating. His beard was patchy, and he reeked like he hadn’t bathed.
“...This is the ‘traitor’ who escaped your hideout and tried to hide among us...”
The apartment survivors’ group had handed over my enemy on a silver platter.
He was a dead man walking anyway, so they’d barely fed him enough to stay alive and hadn’t bothered washing him.
From their perspective, this was a gesture of goodwill.
We caught your enemy for you, so go easy on us. Something like that.
“Yeah, I figured. And stop with the ‘your excellency’ crap—call me Lord from now on. Yeah, that works. ...Anyway, this is the one guy who escaped last time. Nice. This apology softens me up a bit.”
“...”
“I was thinking of making an example by killing a couple, but today just this one’ll do. ...Oh, but plain killing’s no good—gotta torture and interrogate him first. ...Anyway, so what about the women?”
“...C-could you give us... some time...?”
“Time? How much?”
“...At least a week or two... we need to talk it over as a group, convince them...”
“Cut the crap. You get one day. Bring ‘em.”
“...O-one day? That’s impossible... At least three days, a week...”
-Click-
I aimed my gun at the Village Chief.
As soon as I did, the men behind him trained their weapons on me.
The mood turned ugly, and the military drones hovering high above descended in formation. They hovered over me, a show of force to keep the enemies in check.
“...I was gonna cut it to half a day, but fine. I got your apology gift, so I’ll extend it to two days. I’ll come back for the women then. It’s not a bad deal for them either. Unlimited food and safer than anywhere else.”
“...”
“Need help convincing them? Tell them it’s a whole different world from here. Assure them of a high-quality modern life like before the zombies hit.”
“...U-understood. ...So, lower your gun. ...Y-you guys too. Lower them now.”
At his gesture, the men behind slowly lowered their guns, and I holstered mine back in my belt.
The tense standoff eased, and the Village Chief and his men sighed in relief.
I wasn’t fazed at all.
This scene was practically scripted.
I needed to show my power up close for them to get the message.
I was gonna show off my Subspace Storage ability too, but Hye-jeong and a few pussy slaves objected.
Hye-jeong, Seo-yeon, and some of the other pussy slaves said we shouldn’t reveal our secret powers lightly.
Hye-yeon and Mi-young argued for showing it to intimidate more, splitting opinions.
The vote went against it, so no Subspace demo.
My powers aren’t just Subspace... but whatever, the pussy slaves don’t know all my abilities anyway.
“See you in two days then. Let’s end this nicely. If the deal falls through, no more drone protection. Hordes of zombies will overrun this place. You know what happens then, right?”
“...Y-yes, understood.”
“Your precious son, daughter, daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, grandkids—they’ll all die horribly.”
“...”
“Oh, and don’t touch the women just because I said two days. That’d be no fun. You get me? Hand ‘em over nicely.”
I told them I’d return in two days, took the guy for interrogation, and left.
#
Lee Young-jun.
The old man dubbed ‘Village Chief’ by the self-proclaimed ‘Lord.’
No choice—we have to hand over the women. Shame, they’re young and pretty. The young guys might rebel hard.
Lee Young-jun, the ‘youngster’(?) at the nursing home wasting away listening to geezers rant about kids these days lacking grit, saw his status skyrocket when the zombie apocalypse hit.
While the other old folks, lacking connections and stamina, became zombie chow, his consistent fitness routine—earning him ‘fitness grandpa’ jabs—let him escape alive.
And under his family motto that stamina equals national power, he’d drilled into his kids to never slack on training. His daughters and sons all survived.
Even the young grandkids, raised on that fitness tradition, made it.
A true blessing.
That became his greatest strength and support base.
Especially in raw power.
In this lawless world without police, might made right.
So, a nobody old man pre-apocalypse rose as leader of the survivors post-outbreak.
He’d always taken good care of his sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, daughters, and sons without favoritism, keeping the family harmonious and hierarchy intact. Naturally, he was the family patriarch and decision-maker.
The grandkids adored him like he was the apple of their eye—higher loyalty even.
Good thing my daughters and daughters-in-law aren’t that pretty.
No matter how parents see their kids as beautiful, Lee Young-jun’s daughters weren’t much to look at, even to him.
He called them ‘princesses’ to spare feelings, but with him and his wife as originals, the daughters couldn’t fare much better.
Plastic surgery only goes so far.
His sons’ wives ranked at the bottom looks-wise too. He’d think, how’d they find mates like that? Not one standout species.
But as they say, fortune’s a wheel. Today, he was glad his daughters, daughters-in-law, and granddaughters weren’t beauties.
“That self-styled Lord gave us two days. What do you all think? No bullshit about fighting back. Anyone spouting that, I’ll hand them to the Lord myself.”
“No choice, sir. The named women have no families or ties, so hand them over for safety.”
“Do-yoon and Seo-jun’ll be heartbroken. They liked two or three of those six girls.”
“Do-yoon and Seo-jun? Makes sense, they’re college age this year. What about you?”
“C’mon, Uncle. I’m thirty-four already. Got three kids—what’re you saying?”
“Hahaha, just kidding.”
A meeting of the survivor group’s leadership: grown sons, older grandkids, and like-minded folks.
As leader Lee Young-jun spoke, everyone voiced agreement with his unspoken intent.
No heated debates or opposition—one son even joked with a grandnephew to lighten the mood.
My people all back me—good. The rest’ll feel the same.
As Lee Young-jun figured, the group’s opinions aligned.
- The sacrificial women are pitiful, but I don’t wanna risk my life fighting...! -
- Just wanna keep living safe under drone protection...! What if zombies swarm? -
- As long as it’s not me or my family... don’t care. But we need the drones! -
- Hand over a few no-family women for zombie protection? Profit. Sweet deal. -
- What’s to think? Hand ‘em over quick. -
With handing over the women as the overwhelming consensus, all that remained was quietly easing them out of the group without fuss.