The Lawless
Kang Dohyun rode his bicycle into Dangjin.
There were a lot of dungeons here.
The northern area of Dangjin was dotted with barriers of various colors—remnants of dungeons. They were dangerous places, but they offered excellent rewards. For now, however, they were out of reach.
Dohyun moved toward the outskirts of Dangjin, as far from the dungeon clusters as he could get. As he traveled, whenever his Presence Detection picked up zombies, he dealt with them from a distance.
Swish, swish, swish… thwack!
He used a sling to hurl stones at the undead, killing them before they could get close. He had only fifty bolts left for his crossbow, so he'd brought a backup sling to use as a ranged weapon.
The sling's advantage was simple: stones were easy to come by. It was harder to use and less accurate, but he'd practiced extensively before his regression, so he had enough confidence to hit his marks.
He dispatched zombies one by one with the sling, moving cautiously. The zombie population had noticeably increased since Dangjin.
By the time evening fell, he needed to find somewhere to sleep.
Where should I stay?
He had to find a place to spend the night. And naturally—
Obviously, a house where a woman is staying alone.
Using Presence Detection, he selected a one-room apartment or house occupied by a single person. He forced the door open and went inside.
"Who's there! Why are you coming in!"
If a woman was alone, he raped her and spent the night in her home. In the morning, he gave her food and offered advice.
"You'll die if you stay here. Go out, fight the zombies, and make your way south."
Then he set off again.
He continued killing zombies and preying on women as he traveled, until a massive bridge came into view.
Seohae Bridge—a colossal structure connecting Chungnam to Gyeonggi Province. To reach Gyeonggi, he had to cross it. The problem was that fighting zombies on a narrow bridge was extremely dangerous.
Fortunately, though—
No zombies.
There were no zombies on Seohae Bridge. Instead, barricades blocked the entrance, and a temporary guard post stood nearby.
The military already controls this.
Seohae Bridge was a strategic chokepoint, and the Republic of Korea's military held it. When the apocalypse struck and law collapsed across Korea and the world, many military bases fell to zombies—but not all of them.
The forces stationed in Gyeonggi Province hadn't managed to secure major cities like Seoul, Incheon, or Suwon, but they had taken control of the southern region centered on Pyeongtaek and Osan. They had even extended their reach to Seohae Bridge, the gateway from relatively zombie-light Chungnam.
As Dohyun rode his bicycle toward the checkpoint, a soldier shouted.
"Halt!"
"What's the matter?"
"I'm heading to Suwon."
Many people had already crossed Seohae Bridge, but most were traveling from Gyeonggi to Chungnam. Gyeonggi had been densely populated, which meant more zombies and more empowered lawless individuals—it was far more dangerous.
Still, there were people like Dohyun who wanted to go to Gyeonggi.
"Listen, Gyeonggi is far more dangerous than Chungnam, where you came from."
A senior soldier among the guards issued a warning. Despite that—
"I have to find my younger sibling."
Most people heading into the dangerous Gyeonggi region had the same reason: family left behind in Gyeonggi or Seoul.
"Sigh… Be careful."
Judging that further dissuasion was pointless, the senior soldier radioed his report and opened the barricade.
"Thank you."
Dohyun thanked them and rode onto Seohae Bridge.
The bridge stretched over seven kilometers. The military controlled it, but the interior was far from cleaned up.
No zombies, but a mess.
There were no zombies, but uncollected corpses lay scattered everywhere, along with vehicles wrecked in traffic accidents.
As he rode along—
Huh, this hasn't been looted either.
He found corpses and vehicles that hadn't been stripped yet, so he picked through the ones that looked intact, taking anything useful as he moved.
Riding and looting, it took him over two hours to cross Seohae Bridge.
"Halt!"
Soldiers guarded the exit into Gyeonggi as well.
"We'll need to search you before you pass through."
Gyeonggi was a military-managed zone. They couldn't risk letting anyone infected with the zombie virus through, so a checkpoint search began.
They opened Dohyun's hiking backpack.
"Wow."
It was stuffed with food—enough to make the inspecting soldier salivate. It stirred their greed, but they still had enough sense to just check the bag and close it again.
And naturally, Dohyun's physical condition was normal. If he'd been bitten, early symptoms would include fever, followed by increasingly abnormal behavior. He looked perfectly fine, and his body temperature was normal.
Still, the soldiers dragged things out.
"Where exactly are you heading?"
"You can't cause trouble, but your reason is looking for family?"
"It'll be tough, but…"
Dohyun quickly caught on to their stalling and spoke up.
"You've all been working hard. Here, have something to eat while you work."
There were four soldiers at the checkpoint. Dohyun pulled out four chocolate bars and handed one to each of them.
"Oh, what's this, you shouldn't have!"
"Thank you."
"I'll enjoy it."
The soldiers hadn't been eating well either, so they gratefully accepted the chocolate bars.
"You're clear. Go ahead."
With the senior soldier's permission, Dohyun passed through Seohae Bridge.
Far away, someone was watching the entire checkpoint scene.
"Boss, that guy's bag looks packed."
"Really? Worth hunting?"
"Yeah. He even gave the soldiers chocolate bars."
From a distance, people were observing through binoculars. Dohyun's large backpack looked like a prime target. And—
"He's probably got a lot of Zombie Coins too."
"Probably. He's traveling alone."
Zombie Coins—they still didn't know what they were used for, but instinctively, people believed they were important and were collecting them.
"Oh! That's a nice bicycle."
"The bike's in good shape?"
"Totally A-grade."
In the apocalypse, bicycles were the best form of transportation. Combined with the backpack full of food, to these observers, Dohyun was like a walking treasure goblin.
After crossing Seohae Bridge, Dohyun pedaled along the road. It was a highway, so the military had cleared it—no zombies on the road itself. But outside the road, other presences were detected. Especially—
Those guys are following me, right?
A group of humans was secretly trailing behind him, treating him like prey.
As expected, Pyeongtaek hasn't been cleaned up yet.
Seeing lawless individuals running wild like this, he realized that while the military had occupied Seohae Bridge, they hadn't extended their control to the Pyeongtaek area at Gyeonggi's entrance.
After riding for about ten minutes, zombies began appearing on the road too.
Swish, swish, swish, thwack!
He killed them one by one with the sling. After dispatching about five—
Great! Level up and a skill. Status Window.
The new skill, Aim, was exactly what he needed.
It increases the accuracy of ranged attacks. Perfect.
He'd used it effectively before his regression too. It was the most essential skill for using a sling.
And—
The enemies are getting closer.
The moment to properly use this skill was approaching.
He kept moving anyway, until—
"Hey! Stop!"
Someone shouted and approached him.
More than ten people. Just from the atmosphere, they weren't good folks.
Their weapons are ordinary.
They all carried steel pipes or iron bars—durable blunt weapons. But there were twelve of them, and the numbers were too lopsided. Most importantly, they had no ranged weapons.
"Hey, friend. We're hungry, so how about sharing some food?"
They said "some food," but it meant the same as "give us everything you have."
Still, it's not the cannibal stage yet.
Dohyun had heard plenty of threats about being eaten alive. Compared to that, this behavior almost seemed cute.
But—
I can't just take this.
Dohyun warned them in return.
"I'm warning you. If you back off now, there won't be any bloodshed."
The lawless men laughed loudly at his warning.
"Hahaha! You're gonna take on all of us at once?"
"We just wanted a little toll in food."
"Don't cry when you get beaten to death for resisting. Drop the bag, leave the bike, and get out of here!"
Ignoring the warning, the lawless men advanced while laughing.
Click.
Dohyun pulled out his crossbow, loaded a bolt, and spoke.
"Final warning. Get lost."
Seeing the crossbow, the lawless men tensed slightly. It was a ranged weapon with real killing power.
But the leader said—
"Hey! Subdue him!"
Thwump! Thwack!
"Agh!!"
The moment the order was given, Dohyun struck first, driving a bolt into one man's head.
When the satisfying message appeared, the enemies checked on their fallen comrade.
"Seungjin-ah!"
"That bastard!"
"Kill him!"
The lawless men charged at Dohyun, and the fight began.
As they came at him, Dohyun immediately pedaled his bicycle backward.
"Chase him!"
Some ran in pursuit, while the leader and his closest men—
Vroom!
—rode after him on motorcycles.
No matter how hard he pedaled, he couldn't match motorcycles.
"Where do you think you're running!"
"Just die quietly!"
Seeing four motorcycles charging at him simultaneously, Dohyun decided to use an overturned car on the roadside.
Use the blind spot.
He got off his bicycle and hid behind the car.
"Flank him from both sides."
Following the leader's orders, the motorcycles split two on each side. But—
Thwump! Thwack!
"Agh!"
Another bolt struck a lawless man's leg.
"Damn it, kill him no matter what."
Three men charged while still on their motorcycles. As they approached Dohyun—
Pshhh!
"Ah!"
Dohyun threw sand into the eyes of the lawless man riding to the right, blinding him. Then—
Thwack!
He swung his axe into the man's neck, killing him instantly.
With two enemies out of the fight, only two remained.
"Ram him with the motorcycle!"
The leader's subordinate tried to hit Dohyun with the motorcycle, but Dohyun climbed onto the overturned car, naturally dodging the attack. The moment an opening appeared—
Thwump! Thwack!
"Agh!"
Another bolt struck a man's shoulder, knocking him off his motorcycle and out of the fight.
"Damn it!"
The lone leader, now at a disadvantage, tried to flee. But Dohyun loaded another bolt into his crossbow. And—
Thwump! Thwack!
He drove an arrow precisely into the fleeing leader's skull, finishing the hunt.
With the motorcycle-riding lawless men dead or incapacitated, the others trailing behind hesitated and immediately fled. The crossbow was too terrifying.
Dohyun was also relieved the fight had ended so easily.
The timing on the Aim skill was perfect.
He'd been confident he could win, but it had been too easy. Thanks to the Aim skill, his crossbow had hit the enemies precisely.
Recover bolts, recover bolts.
Recovering bolts was the most important thing, so he first retrieved the bolt from the leader's head, then the one from another lawless man's shoulder. And finally—
"Ugh…"
The man with a bolt in his leg was still alive.
"P-please… save… *cough*"
Without hesitation, Dohyun swung his axe into his neck.
He disposed of the surviving enemy.
After the fight, he quickly tallied the results.
Used three bolts, one completely destroyed.
The only consumable lost was one bolt.
296 Zombie Coins acquired.
The haul was substantial.
After the apocalypse began, people who disregarded the law were called lawless. Dohyun was technically lawless too, but he was a Traveler who wandered between safe zones, or a Soldier who fought zombies.
These people were Bandits—those who raided others and stole their food.
Bandits were troublesome in every way, so killing them was the best choice.
296 Zombie Coins for one bolt. Good profit.
Dohyun got back on his bicycle, satisfied.
It was clear that the fastest way to collect Zombie Coins was by hunting people. Among them, Bandits were especially good targets since there was no guilt involved.
With the Aim skill, Dohyun confirmed through this fight that his combat power had grown considerably.
Not many bolts left, though.
The Aim skill also had good effects on the sling. If he raised his sling proficiency further and got one more related skill, he expected to achieve combat power comparable to the crossbow.
If that's the case, I won't need to avoid enemies. In fact, it'd be better to lure them into attacking.
His route changed accordingly. He'd originally planned to head straight to Osan, but—
"Let's go check it out."
Dohyun got back on his bicycle. His new destination was Pyeongtaek—he'd changed his plan to explore Pyeongtaek first before heading to Osan.