The Punishment
Scattered across the apartment complex were still quite a few of those bastards still fighting battles.
The solar storm had triggered widespread electromagnetic interference, so even the radios only crackled uselessly. Without them it was impossible to coordinate.
With electronics dead the world was already sliding back toward the medieval era. No, wait—there were still guns, so maybe it had only regressed to the early modern period.
I slipped up quietly behind the gunmen who were locked in a firefight.
Since I was alone no one noticed me. There wasn’t a single person paying special attention.
The moment I closed the distance a guy turned and stared.
“Where the hell did you just come from? Huh? Identification band? First time I’ve seen that face.”
The second his sentence finished my time perception slowed to a crawl. The semi-automatic shotgun in my hand started spitting fire.
Six rapid shots. Empty chamber. I drew the revolver and put two headshots through the remaining two heads.
With I wiped them all out in just a few seconds.
[Kill count: 8 absorbed] [Super Regeneration: 300]
The moment the last of the gunmen fell the apartment residents froze in confusion.
I immediately chased down the next group of market bastards.
While I kept stirring the slaughterhouse I realized they finally understood the tide had turned and began screaming for retreat.
I wasn’t about to let them get away. Even as they ran I made sure to extract every last scrap of experience.
The sunglasses guy had clearly been the cream of the crop.
The rest were mostly ordinary humans. Their weapons were mostly pistols and homemade slingshots instead of shotguns. Still, most Koreans had served in the army, so basic marksmanship was decent.
Air rifles and shotguns were probably in short supply; the ones the police still had were the only handguns worth mentioning. The slingshots were light and easy to dodge, so I could just sidestep and keep closing in.
[Kill count: 48 absorbed] [Super Regeneration: 338]
By the time every last one of them was dead the experience bar had climbed significantly.
Using usually brought on dizziness and sudden exhaustion, but Super Regeneration had grown so much the recovery time was now much faster.
After the battle ended I checked the remaining survivors together with Ryu Si-a.
In Grand River Apartment only about one-third had escaped and another one-third had died. The survivors numbered around one hundred.
The leadership had lost their representative in combat; two executives remained while the rest had scattered.
I called Ryu Si-a and the two executives to the largest, highest-ceiling meeting room.
One was a fifty-year-old doctor named Kwak Cheol-min, the other a forty-year-old startup businessman named Lee Myung-jin.
“Even the former representative is gone, so from now on I will serve as the representative of this building. Any objections?”
“W-we support it. After killing the market bastards single-handedly…”
“I agree that I should be the representative.”
“I agree too. Seo-jun-ssi’s abilities have already been proven in front of everyone.”
In any case I intended to let these three handle the basic structure of the apartment residents.
“Then may I call you Chairman?”
Lee Myung-jin opened his mouth.
“Chairman?”
“Yes. We originally called the apartment representative the chairman. That is why the former representative was addressed that way.”
“Chairman… Well, sounds a bit old, but if that’s the preference then so be it. Representative or chairman makes no difference.”
“Haha. Congratulations. Chairman Lee Seo-jun.”
Lee Myung-jin’s smile was warm and made people feel comfortable. Actually, he was good at fawning.
After the battle the only things they had gained were the weapons and ammunition.
Too many people had been killed, injured, or fled.
“First we should check on the wounded, treat them, and recover the bodies so that no epidemics break out.”
Kwak Cheol-min spoke up. He looked like a competent doctor and had a surprisingly blunt personality.
“What about medical supplies?”
“The equipment at the nearest private clinic is all we have. We need to give first aid and prevent infection at all costs. Even that is in short supply…”
“If that’s the case, I’ll bring the market bastards’ supplies instead.”
“What? H-how?”
“Since they attacked first, now it’s our turn to counterattack. Occupying the large mart is the next goal.”
“Still, there are hundreds of them over there. We only have dozens of young people who can fight.”
This time Lee Myung-jin spoke.
“Don’t worry. Think of me as a fighter jet and tank. Everyone else is just infantry that will handle the occupied territory. Most battles will be handled by me alone. It might take some time, but I’ll drain their blood until they surrender.”
“H-haha. Alone… Well, you fought alone here too, after all…”
“Y-yes. One more question.”
Kwak Cheol-min asked carefully.
“Ask me anything.”
“The wound on your shoulder. Even after being shot you recovered instantly. With that ability can you defeat the enemies so easily?”
Kwak Cheol-min was speaking bluntly, but he was clearly reading me quickly.
I scanned the surroundings, picked up a wooden rod lying on the floor, and picked it up.
*Snap.*
I put force into my hand and the rod shattered completely. Pure strength had pulverized the wood.
Small gasps escaped all three of them.
“I know you can see the regeneration ability, the overwhelming power and speed, and . You have transcended the limits of humanity.”
I threw the shattered rod at them and sat back on the sofa.
“From now on this group will be operated under my strong power. There will be no more democracy. What we need now is strong power and order.”
I quickly explained my living situation.
The ninety-pyeong house I was running the company from would become my residence. Three people would also live there to handle food and cleaning.
Ryu Si-a would also live in one of the rooms in my house.
“But… I have my own house.”
“Your role has become too big now. There are many things we’ll do together closely, so you should stay here.”
The two men wore meaningful expressions but didn’t say anything.
After the summary we gathered everyone in the central plaza of the apartment and brought the captured prisoners along.
Including the combat team leader Park Beom there were thirteen in total. Most were young; three of them were women.
All the prisoners had been stripped naked and lined up with their arms tied behind their backs.
One hundred or so apartment residents glared at them, cursing and insulting. When I calmed them down they fell silent.
Park Beom’s face was still filled with rage and anger. What was he still thinking he could do?
The women looked embarrassed and helpless when they realized they were naked. One of them even quietly started crying.
All three looked ordinary. I wonder why they had joined the fight.
“Why did the women join the battle?”
I asked them directly.
“W-we had to work equally regardless of gender… If you don’t have any special abilities then women had to pick up weapons too.”
“I-I was in the back so no one could shoot me! I only had a slingshot!”
It wasn’t a special combat ability. They had just thrown the women in to fill headcount.
Well, if a woman wasn’t going to help in any meaningful way then sending her to fight was better than leaving her idle. In this world it was only right that no one could be a freeloader.
I stepped in front of the crowd and spoke.
“From now on I will punish the prisoners! I have also lost beloved ones to them, and many of you have lost family members to them as well.”
Everyone’s attention turned to me.
“In the old world we would have taken them to trial, hired lawyers, and fought back and forth. But what would happen then? A few years in prison? A few months? Worst case you’d get probation and the criminals would live freely without any punishment. Now I will show you my way of judging.”
I walked up to Park Beom, grabbed the collar around his neck, and yanked it hard. He jerked and was dragged forward.
“He is the one who raped and tortured my beloved woman together with his subordinates before killing her in a horrific way.”
Small gasps and curses came from the women.
“How exactly did you kill her? You fucked her all day while playing with her, then dissected her whole body, cut off her nipples, and shoved a thick rod through her genitals and anus until she died. Got anything to say? Park Beom?”
He trembled and glared at me. Most of it was true, so he probably had no defense. Even if he had, my fist would have ended the conversation anyway.
I went behind him, drew a knife, grabbed his ankle, and slashed the Achilles tendons on both feet.
Park Beom fell screaming. I held out my hand and one of the men beside me handed me a large hammer.
The hammer crashed down on his outstretched hand. The bones completely shattered. While he was still shaking and trying to lift the hand, I brought the hammer down on the other side and pulverized every finger.
As he screamed I gestured and the doctor came over to wrap the bleeding leg with bandages. I didn’t plan to let him bleed out.
When I flipped him over his back touched the ground and he started twitching like a worm.
“Start.”
I ordered. The men crowded around and pinned him down while the doctor grabbed his penis and picked up the scalpel.
“W-what?! No! Aaaah!”
His penis and testicles dropped to the floor with a wet slap. I picked them up and tossed them toward a stray cat in the distance that was already approaching. It slunk over and started eating.
The doctor stitched the wound and wrapped it with bandages. It wouldn’t kill him from blood loss or infection.
Someone brought a medium-sized dog cage. A sturdy metal cage.
Park Beom’s eyes had turned into dead-fish eyes as he stared blankly at the cat eating his own genitals.
I gestured and three men grabbed him and forced him into the cage.
I made him kneel and lay face-down completely. He fit the cage perfectly. He couldn’t move an inch. No way to stretch his limbs or change posture.
“Weld the door shut.”
The second my words fell one man brought a welding torch and completely sealed the cage door. The door would never open unless the cage itself was destroyed.
I lifted the cage myself and placed it on a flat stone statue about human height. Anyone passing by the plaza could watch. Because the cage had holes on all sides his naked body was visible from every angle.
From now on that bastard would become the living monument symbolizing this place.