Chapter 27.
Chapter 27.
I returned to where the camper was. I took Seo-yoon inside the large camper and sat her on the sofa.
She sat quietly, looking and posing somewhat awkwardly.
"Everyone, come here."
Jung-hoon, Ye-rin, and Su-jin gathered.
"This is Choi Seo-yoon. A junior from my university department. I rescued her from being dragged off by an enemy group."
Seo-yoon bowed her head in greeting. Her voice was small.
"I'm Seo-yoon. I'll be in your care."
Ye-rin looked at Seo-yoon. Long hair, fair skin, a beauty that couldn't be hidden even with tear tracks. Ye-rin's eyes scanned her up and down once.
She was a completely different type from Ye-rin. If Ye-rin had a flashy and distinct face, Seo-yoon had a clear and pure one. A face that would be called "innocent," so to speak.
Long eyes without double eyelids, a nose that was high but not sharp, small lips. None of the features stood out on their own, but when combined, it was a face you couldn't take your eyes off of.
If Ye-rin was a beauty you couldn't forget after one look, Seo-yoon was a beauty you fell for the more you looked at her.
"You've been through a lot, Unni."
She said it brightly, but her eyes didn't smile. Was it just me? It was different from her usual smile.
Jung-hoon nodded.
"Hello. I'm Lee Jung-hoon."
Su-jin sat next to Seo-yoon. She grabbed her wrist and checked her pulse.
"You're a bit dehydrated. You haven't been able to eat properly for a few days, right?"
"Yes. Just a little bit of convenience store food."
"For now, drink water slowly, and you need to eat meals in small portions. If you eat it all at once, you'll get indigestion."
Su-jin said calmly. She was a pro.
"More importantly, Min-woo-ssi first."
Su-jin looked at me. My side.
"Sit down."
It was a tone that couldn't be refused. I sat on the edge of the camper bed. Su-jin brought out a medical kit.
She unwrapped the torn cloth. Blood had dried and stuck to it. Su-jin wiped the area with an antiseptic swab.
"I need to remove the bullet, so it might hurt a bit."
Su-jin sterilized the tweezers and brought them toward the wound. At that moment.
Tuk.
The lead bullet was pushed out of the wound and fell to the floor. The small metal pellet rolled degureureu on the camper floor.
Su-jin stopped. She stared at the wound, still holding the tweezers.
"What is this?"
"What?"
"The bullet came out on its own. The thing that was embedded in your flesh just pushed itself out."
Su-jin examined the wound area closely. Her eyes widened.
"The wound is strange, too. If it bled this much earlier, it shouldn't be healed to this extent by now."
Regeneration. It was clear that the wound had healed and pushed the bullet out. But I couldn't explain that to her.
"I've always had a constitution where my flesh heals well. And I guess the wound wasn't as deep as I thought."
"No. I definitely saw the bullet embedded earlier. But now it's almost closed up. This is a bit..."
Su-jin tilted her head. Her eyes were telling me that a nurse's intuition was saying something was off.
"Well, it's fine if it's healed."
I brushed it off casually. Su-jin looked like she wanted to ask more, but she kept her mouth shut. She disinfected it, applied gauze, and secured it with tape.
"I've treated it for now. But Min-woo-ssi, your body seems a bit strange."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
Su-jin chuckled. But her eyes were still puzzled.
She disinfected it, applied gauze, and secured it with tape. It was a clean treatment.
"Watch out for infection. I'll check it again tomorrow."
"Thank you."
Seo-yoon was watching that scene from the sofa. My upper body was exposed.
Seo-yoon's gaze lingered on the wound on my side, then on my muscles, but when she met my eyes, she quickly looked away.
"Sunbae, you got hurt because of me, didn't you? I'm sorry."
"It's not because of you. I was just slow to dodge."
Ye-rin brought a set of clothes. She handed them to Seo-yoon.
"Wear this, Unni. It's my clothes, so it might be a bit small."
Ye-rin was shorter than Seo-yoon and had a different body type. If the tall Seo-yoon wore the glamorous Ye-rin's clothes, there would definitely be parts that didn't fit.
"Thank you. Ye-rin-ssi."
Seo-yoon smiled as she took the clothes. It was a strained smile, but she smiled nonetheless.
"There's a shower room, so please wash up comfortably. Hot water comes out too."
Su-jin said. The corners of Seo-yoon's eyes moistened slightly.
"Thank you. Really."
While Seo-yoon went to shower, the four of us gathered.
"There's a problem."
I opened my mouth.
"Two of those bastards ran away. They also dragged one woman away. They're going to report to the factory."
Jung-hoon's face hardened.
"Has our location been exposed?"
"They probably don't know the exact location. But they've learned that there's someone shooting arrows in this vicinity. A threatening existence that killed their comrades."
Ye-rin asked.
"Will they come for revenge?"
"I don't know. But the possibility is high. From their perspective, four of their people died."
No one spoke. An uneasy atmosphere just hung in the air.
"We need to launch the drone and check the factory's movements. And let's pack our bags just in case. So we can leave at any time."
Jung-hoon nodded.
"I'll pack the gear."
Ye-rin took out the drone.
"I'll launch it right away."
Everyone started moving. It was quiet, but tension filled the camper.
Seo-yoon came out after washing and was wearing Ye-rin's clothes. As expected, the shorts were short, and the top looked even shorter. The difference in body type was clearly visible. Seo-yoon tugged at her clothes, looking uncomfortable.
The shorts were short, making her legs look even longer. Her long, white legs stood out particularly well.
"It's a bit small, right? I'm sorry. I only have my clothes."
Ye-rin said.
"No. I'm grateful for just this."
Seo-yoon bowed her head.
I looked at the drone screen. Toward the factory. There's no big movement yet. But it's only a matter of time.
It was the calm before the storm.
I took out the two air rifles we had looted from them.
They were PCP air rifles. A method where you pre-fill the air tank with compressed air and shoot. I checked the tanks. There was residual pressure on the gauges. It looked like we could fire about 20 more rounds per rifle.
"Jung-hoon, Ye-rin."
I called them.
"Take one each. You need to use them in an emergency."
Jung-hoon took one and examined it here and there. As a mechanic, his hands were natural when handling machinery.
"It's my first time with an air rifle, but the structure is simple."
"It's simple. This is the magazine. Put the pellet here and push it to load. Disengage the safety and pull the trigger. There's almost no recoil."
I demonstrated by putting a pellet into the magazine. I loaded it and engaged and disengaged the safety. It was a simple motion.
The time I had practiced shooting air rifles for fun with the late Sang-man hyung was helping me now.
"How about reloading?"
"Pull the bolt to rotate the magazine, and the next round will be chambered. It's one shot at a time."
Jung-hoon nodded and followed the motions. It seemed like he got the hang of it after two tries.
I handed the other one to Ye-rin. Ye-rin received it with both hands. It wasn't heavier than the crossbow, but her expression was different. It seemed the weight that a "gun" carries was different.
"It's similar to the crossbow. Aim and pull the trigger. Just keep in mind it makes noise, so only use it when necessary."
"Okay."
Ye-rin tried an aiming stance. It was awkward, but the basics were there.
"I'll distribute 40 rounds of ammunition for each rifle. Use them sparingly."
I divided the pellets and put them in their pockets.
Our firepower had increased. Two air rifles were added to a team that only had bows and crossbows.
Even if they weren't as powerful as gunpowder guns, the difference in accuracy between a crossbow and an air rifle was like night and day.
Jung-hoon turned the air rifle around and examined it. He checked the barrel condition, tried placing the stock against his shoulder, and changed his stance to get a feel for it. After operating the loading lever a few times, he nodded.
"The condition is good. It's well-oiled, too. These guys must have maintained them."
Jung-hoon looked through the scope and pretended to aim at a distant spot. As a former mechanic, his handling of the machine was smooth. He checked the safety location, repeated loading and ejecting the ammunition two or three times, and quickly made it his own.
"Hyung, what's the effective range?"
"About 40~50 meters. Beyond that, accuracy drops a bit. If you want to aim for the head, within 30 meters is certain."
"It'll be much more convenient than the crossbow."
Ye-rin had the gun on her lap and was touching it carefully. She traced her finger along the barrel and familiarized herself with the structure around the trigger with her eyes.
Perhaps because she had experience handling a crossbow, her aiming stance wasn't bad, but the position of the stock against her shoulder kept slipping.
"Here. Pull it in a bit more and press it tight."
I grabbed Ye-rin's shoulder and fixed her position. Ye-rin took the stance again and aimed. This time, it was stable.
"What about recoil?"
"There's a little bit, but it'll be more comfortable than the crossbow."
Ye-rin pulled the trigger with the empty gun. Puck. Her eyes widened slightly at the light operation.
"It's definitely faster than the crossbow. And reloading is simple, too."
"But the sound is louder than you'd think. That's the biggest difference. Only use it when absolutely necessary."
Everyone nodded.
It hadn't even been 20 minutes since Ye-rin launched the drone.
"Boss, look at this."
She held out the tablet. It was the screen toward the factory. Four vehicles were coming out of the factory. People were piling in.
I zoomed in. I saw bastards holding air rifles. There were also guys holding steel pipes, axes, and baseball bats. They were all armed.
"How many?"
"I'm counting. Five or six people per car. It's over twenty."
My stomach twisted. I had expected it, but I didn't know it would be this fast.
"Direction?"
"I don't know yet. They're stopped on the road in front of the factory."
We have to move now. If we wait to confirm whether they're coming this way or not, it'll be too late.
"Everyone, gather."
The four of us gathered in 30 seconds. Seo-yoon also followed with an anxious face.
"Four vehicles came out of the factory. Over twenty armed personnel. I don't know if they're coming this way yet, but we don't have the luxury of waiting."
Jung-hoon asked immediately.
"Are we moving?"
"We're moving. In the opposite direction. Right now."
No one objected.
"5 minutes to pack. No more than that."
For some reason, the situation reminded me of my military days. Without realizing it, I had shifted into that atmosphere.
Everyone scattered. Jung-hoon started the Staria and warmed up the engine. Su-jin packed the medical kit.
Ye-rin was piloting the drone while simultaneously shoving luggage in with one hand.
Seo-yoon stood there not knowing what to do, but when Su-jin asked for help, she started moving to follow her.
I grabbed my bow and quiver, and loaded the two air rifles and the ammunition box into the cargo area. I also checked the spare drone batteries.
It was finished in 4 minutes.
Me, Ye-rin, and Seo-yoon in the large camper.
Jung-hoon and Su-jin in the Staria.
I sat in the driver's seat, and Ye-rin monitored the drone screen on the tablet from the passenger seat.
"Let's go."
The two vehicles moved at the same time. Opposite the factory. North.
Ye-rin kept watching the drone screen and relayed the situation. The bastards' vehicles started moving.
"It's east."
Ye-rin said.
East. It wasn't where we were, but it was a nearby direction. They had started searching. Since they didn't know our exact location, they must be sweeping a wide area.
I stepped on the accelerator more. The camper picked up speed. The Staria followed closely behind.
Seo-yoon was looking out the window from the back seat. She was biting her lip.
"Sunbae."
"Yeah."
"This happened because of me, didn't it?"
"No."
"If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have been discovered by them."
"Seo-yoon."
I looked back.
"If I hadn't saved you, I would have regretted it. So don't say things like that."
Seo-yoon closed her mouth. Her eyes were wet, but she didn't cry.
We had escaped for now. But this was just the beginning. They were looking for us.