Pohang
Kang Dohyun and Kang Dohun continued on in an awkward silence.
Whenever zombies appeared along the way, Dohyun dealt with them alone without a word, loosing bolts from his crossbow. Whenever a bandit pack showed up, Dohun handled the thieves himself.
They exchanged no conversation at all, but both men were strong enough that the journey itself posed no real problem.
After half a day of travel, the long national highway finally ended and the entrance to Pohang's industrial district came into view. A checkpoint stood there.
"Please stop."
It was a civilian checkpoint, not a military one. Kang Dohyun had no intention of submitting quietly to an inspection and shook his head.
"I'd rather not."
"...."
The four people manning the checkpoint raised their weapons. One of them even held a bow, which meant they had ranged capability.
"Hey. We're both over level twenty, all right? So if you don't want to die, just let us through."
Kang Dohun stepped in to head off a massacre. The moment he mentioned being over level twenty, the checkpoint guards flinched—but still.
"If you're that strong, then please—I'm begging you—could you just not pass through here? There are plenty of side paths."
The man in charge of the checkpoint pleaded with a faintly servile look. They weren't allowed to let people through without authorization.
Dohun glanced once at his older brother, then—
Tap-tap!
—picked up his bicycle first and turned onto the paddy path running alongside the road.
"Haa."
Kang Dohyun sighed, still carrying Lee Chaerin on his back, and followed his brother onto the paddy path.
The two brothers walked the path in continued silence. Following it inward eventually brought them into Pohang proper.
Pohang was a smaller version of Ulsan. This city, too, was dense with dungeons.
But—
Nothing but blue everywhere.
There were hardly any small dungeons. The city was packed with large blue and white ones instead.
As the brothers walked along the road, they reached Jaenae Intersection, and the place was crowded with people.
Kang Dohun spoke to his brother first.
"Hyung. Let's go our separate ways in Pohang."
The angry younger brother needed a little time. When he suggested splitting up—
"Fine."
—Kang Dohyun accepted the proposal without argument, and Dohun vanished alone into the market at Jaenae Intersection.
Dohyun watched his departing brother with a sigh, then took a brief look around the market himself.
"Come on, goods that only come in today! Pick them out quick!"
"One full set of clothes for a single coin!"
"We've added liquor to the menu at our restaurant. Come try it."
Jaenae Intersection had transformed into a market thronged with people.
Merchants had seized the roadway, laying out stalls and hawking their wares, while crowds moved back and forth buying and selling.
The existence of an open market this large meant—
Looks like they've got public order under control.
Between the checkpoint at the city entrance and everything else, Pohang clearly looked like a city where security was being maintained.
If order was holding, the first priority was finding a place to stay.
"Hey—any safe lodging or place to sleep around here?"
When Kang Dohyun asked a merchant selling goods—
"Hahaha, of course there is. Hahaha."
—the merchant laughed and said there was, but offered nothing further. So Dohyun picked up one of the shirts the man was selling.
"All right, I'll take this."
The moment he paid one Zombie Coin, the merchant smiled at once.
"Thank you. See those dungeons to the north and south from here? Naturally the areas around them aren't safe. Head west and you'll reach Daesong-myeon, Jaene Village—that place is very secure. You should be able to find somewhere to sleep."
Once the merchant had given him the information, Dohyun asked a follow-up.
"What about the rest of Pohang?"
"Think of Pohang as divided by the Hyeongsan River. South of the river is generally safe except for the dungeon zones. North of the river is dangerous."
South of the Hyeongsan River had plenty of dungeons, but outside the immediate dungeon surroundings most of the zombies had already been cleared. So aside from the dungeon areas, it was safe.
North of the Hyeongsan River, by contrast, was largely zombie-held territory and extremely dangerous.
Kang Dohyun headed west from Jaenae Intersection with Lee Chaerin.
Passing through what had once been a factory district and was now a market brought them to a villa neighborhood—a residential area occupied only by people, with no zombies in sight.
People only, though, did not automatically mean safe. Dohyun moved carefully, staying alert to his surroundings, until an elementary school came into view.
An elementary school means a playground.
When he reached the school grounds, he found a tent village of people like himself who had nowhere else to stay.
It'll be hot during the day, but fine enough for one night.
The playground was spacious, and there were decent spots available. Dohyun decided to sleep here for the night.
He set up his tent, laid Lee Chaerin down inside it, then pitched a shower tent beside it and started organizing the rest of his gear—when—
"New guest, huh."
"We're here for the site fee!"
Four armed men and one woman approached the tent.
"Site fee?"
"Isn't that obvious?"
"This is Brother Jonghyun's territory. You want to stay, you pay the fee. Three coins if you're sleeping here."
Watching them make their demands so brazenly, Dohyun read the local atmosphere at a glance.
People have completely carved up the districts, and there's been faction fighting on top of it.
The strong had almost certainly split the area among themselves and seized control.
A site fee… in the apocalypse, it was only natural.
Once a group dominated a district, charging transient outlaws an entry toll and a fee to stay became standard practice.
And three coins wasn't actually that expensive.
Three zombies… at this stage of things, even the weakest outlaws—Travelers and scavengers—were hunting ten zombies a day, so the cost was manageable.
Stronger outlaws paid the three coins as a matter of course, a gesture of acknowledging the local bosses.
Ordinarily Dohyun would simply have handed over the three coins. Right now, though, he wanted a clearer picture of Pohang's situation. So he provoked them.
"I'm just going to sleep quietly for one night and leave. Get lost."
"!"
At Dohyun's words, the faces of the people who'd come for the fee twisted.
"I'm seriously strong, you know. Walk away now and I'll let you live. Go."
The arrogant line made the men raise their weapons, combat intent plain on their faces.
"Look at this wet-behind-the-ears pup!"
"Some wandering bastard thinks he can—"
"Been a while since I got to spill some blood!"
Three of the men finally charged Dohyun with weapons drawn. And then—
Click, BOOM!
—a shotgun blast, and—
Thud!
—all three men dropped dead on the playground dirt.
"....."
The remaining man and woman tried to flee at once, but—
Thwack.
"Kyaaah!"
—Dohyun closed on the fleeing woman and dropped her with a low kick, then finished the man with his crossbow.
Ignoring the corpses scattered across the playground, he dragged only the fallen woman back into the tent.
"Ugh… uh…"
Her leg seemed broken; she was writhing in pain.
"Face is decent. You got into the group because you're pretty, right?"
She wasn't an outstanding beauty, but she was better-looking than average. Dohyun laid her down and—
Riiip, tear!
"Ah! What are you doing?! Please, spare me!"
—started ripping her clothes off. She struggled, but he ignored her resistance, stripped her completely, and—
Thrust!
"Aagh!! It hurts! Stop!"
—drove his cock straight into her pussy and began to rape her. Lee Chaerin watched the two of them and—
"I'm so jealous. I want Master's cock too."
—gazed on the rape scene with childlike envy.
Corpses littered the ground outside. Inside the tent, a woman being raped screamed.
"Run."
"It's dangerous."
The people who'd pitched tents on the school playground hastily gathered their belongings and fled.
In barely ten minutes, everyone had grabbed only what they could carry and run. The playground was empty.
Thirty minutes into the rape—
"Hah. That was good."
Pumping the woman's pussy full of cum left him feeling a little better. As for the woman he'd raped—
"Hic… hic… I'm going to kill you. Hic… I'll get my revenge!"
—she sobbed and shrieked, but Dohyun just drank some cool water.
"Still don't know your place. I didn't even kill you and you can't be grateful… Well, your pussy was good enough that I'll let it slide."
He let it go at that.
But a moment later—
"Come out!"
—someone shouted from outside the tent. When he opened the flap—
"You're the bastard who killed our guys?"
—more fighters from the same group as the people Dohyun had killed had arrived in force.
Dohyun didn't bother answering, his eyes saying he found the whole thing tedious—until—
"Oppa! This son of a bitch killed Seojun-oppa and the others! And he raped me too!"
—the woman he'd just raped screamed it out in a frenzy, and—
"What?! Kill him!"
—they rushed him as well. But—
Click, BOOM!
—one shotgun blast dropped four of them, and—
Whoosh, crack! Whoosh, crunch! Whoosh, crack!
—axe swings felled three more, and—
"This isn't right—run!"
—the three who tried to flee had their lives snuffed out by the crossbow.
With the additional ten dead as well—
"....."
—the raped woman still couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"You should die too, right?"
At Dohyun's words she begged on pure instinct.
"Please spare me. Please! Spare me!"
She pleaded, but Dohyun dragged her out of the tent and—
Crack!
—took her head off with the axe.
In under an hour he had slaughtered a considerable number of people—and with overwhelming combat power.
Going to keep bothering me? Whatever.
If they kept being a nuisance, he'd just keep killing them.
"Lee Chaerin. Time to fuck that cunt of yours."
"Hehehe! Yes!"
At Dohyun's words, Chaerin dropped onto all fours, presenting her already wet pussy.
"You've got a famous hole yourself. After all that fucking and masturbating, your pussy's still in great shape."
"Hehehe."
Chaerin only giggled, and Dohyun pushed his cock into her.
Squelch.
"Haaah… so good… haah… haaang…"
The mere act of penetration sent Chaerin into a small climax; her whole body shuddered.
"You stupid bitch. We're just getting started. Get it together."
Slap!
He deliberately cracked her hard across the ass as he said it, and—
"Hehe… haah… hehe… haaat!"
—Chaerin made strange little moans. When Dohyun started rolling his hips in earnest—
"Haaah… haaang! Ang! S-so… so good! Haaaang! Aht! Haaaang!"
—she began letting out sweet, honeyed cries. Using that fine body of hers, Dohyun worked off the rest of his lust.
About an hour later, a single person approached the tent where Dohyun and Chaerin were.
One person?
Having already sensed the presence, Dohyun waited to see what the man would do.
"Excuse me—might I have a brief word with the distinguished guest? My name is Seo Yoon-pil. I belong to the group that was managing this district."
A man speaking with careful courtesy. And that name—
Seo Yoon-pil? Sounds familiar.
Thinking that, Dohyun opened the tent flap. The man waiting outside smiled and spoke.
"Hello. I'm Seo Yoon-pil."
Ah. That Seo Yoon-pil.
It was the Seo Yoon-pil whose face Dohyun had known before the regression. A very famous man. Specifically—
Seo Yoon-pil the Schemer.
A strategist renowned for how brilliantly he worked every angle.