Changing Targets
That night, after Kang Dohyun and Han Jiyu had made love.
"Unnie... I slept with Dohyun-ssi."
"!...."
Hearing that her younger sister had been with Kang Dohyun, Han Jiyu flinched.
First, she felt guilty.
She should have protected her sister, but she hadn't stood between them because she needed someone like Kang Dohyun.
So she tried to keep her voice as calm as possible.
"Is that so? Are you okay?"
"It hurt... but it was good."
Han Jia's eyes when she spoke of Kang Dohyun sparkled with such brightness, and she looked so happy.
"And Dohyun-ssi said he'd take care of me for the rest of my life."
"Is that so? Then that's good, I suppose..."
"Really. He even showed me his Status Window! And he confessed that he was sincere."
"Oh? What was his Status Window like?"
"That's a secret. We agreed not to tell anyone else. But... I can tell you a little. He's an incredible person. Truly incredible."
Han Jia looked so happy. And watching her sister like that, Han Jiyu felt guilt pile on guilt.
Jia-ya, I'm sorry.
And a little part of her felt envious, too.
When will I ever... get to be with a man I love?
In truth, she still hadn't connected with the man she loved.
While the two sisters talked, in the situation room, Kang Dohyun and Jeong Hangyeol were enjoying a drink together in good spirits.
"Thank you, Dohyun-ssi. Thanks to you, things have been going so well."
After Kang Dohyun had killed Choi Yejun of the Gumi High School Group, the Gumi Student Front had been rapidly expanding its territory for a week.
They had seized six large apartment complexes they'd been eyeing and secured the surrounding areas.
They were increasing their occupied territory at a remarkably fast pace.
So Jeong Hangyeol was in an exceptionally good mood lately.
"You're welcome. I was able to meet Jia-ssi thanks to this mission, too."
When Kang Dohyun brought up Han Jia,
"I truly support both of you. If there's anything I can do to help, please don't hesitate to ask."
"It's fine. We're already lovers who'll spend our lives together."
Hearing that they were dating, Jeong Hangyeol smiled sincerely.
"Congratulations. That's wonderful. Hahaha."
The two clinked glasses in celebration.
As they drank, Kang Dohyun asked Jeong Hangyeol a question.
"By the way, how are things between you and Jiyu-ssi?"
"Jiyu? She's a really close friend. A childhood friend."
At the words "close friend," Kang Dohyun pressed a little harder.
"Could it be... you two are lovers?"
"Lovers? With Jiyu? Hahaha, that's a funny joke."
Jeong Hangyeol said it with complete certainty.
"Jiyu and I are friends. Nothing more than friends. There's absolutely no way we'd become a couple."
Jeong Hangyeol didn't see Han Jiyu as a woman.
Kang Dohyun's original target had naturally been Han Jia.
That was why he'd taken on the assassination mission and come to the Gumi Student Front. While carrying out the mission, he'd gained Han Jia's attention, slept with her, and successfully made her his girlfriend.
His original goal was achieved, and now all that remained was to leave with Han Jia.
How interesting.
At tonight's drinking session, Kang Dohyun had confirmed something amusing.
Jeong Hangyeol and Han Jiyu were not yet a couple.
In his previous life, the Gumi Student Front led by Jeong Hangyeol had ruled half of Gumi. And Han Jiyu had always been at his side.
Jeong Hangyeol had many women and plenty of scandals, but his wife had been Han Jiyu.
The two of them had been the core of the group.
Even though Jeong Hangyeol frequently caused trouble with women, Han Jiyu had stayed at his side and kept the group running.
But if Han Jiyu and Jeong Hangyeol weren't a couple yet...
Should I take Han Jiyu too?
Kang Dohyun had no intention of stealing Han Jiyu away from Jeong Hangyeol as his clinging wife. But if she wasn't yet a lover...
I'll have to think about how to shake things up.
Having experienced Seo Yoon-pil as a brain, he felt that having a genius strategist like Han Jiyu would be extremely useful later on.
The opportunity came quickly.
The Gumi Student Front had pushed into northern Gumi, east of their original territory, expanding at a breakneck pace for a week. But then—
On the eighth day, a coalition of small groups in northern Gumi began to counterattack.
"Team E! We're under attack! Aagh!"
The bad news reached Han Jiyu in the situation room. The enemy was attacking.
"Team F, provide support!"
"Team F confirms the combat zone—the enemy has already fled."
There were as many as thirteen small groups in northern Gumi. Until now, Gumi High School had been blocking the Gumi Student Front's advance, but—
Once Gumi High School fell, fighters from other groups had gathered and begun to counterattack.
The coalition's fighters were few in number, but they had high-level warriors who waged guerrilla warfare, causing scattered damage everywhere.
That evening.
The situation room was filled with Jeong Hangyeol, Han Jiyu, and other officers of the Gumi Student Front.
"Let's review today's casualties."
At Jeong Hangyeol's order, Han Jiyu immediately reported.
"We engaged the Northern Coalition four times today. As a result, we lost four comrades and had five wounded. The enemy also had five wounded, but they escaped."
Four dead. A defeat for the Gumi Student Front.
"Four comrades lost..."
Jeong Hangyeol's voice was somber, and everyone lowered their heads.
"Then, what should we do tomorrow? How do we avoid losses like today's?"
At Jeong Hangyeol's question, Han Jiyu and the other officers all fell silent.
Four battles... If they had a way to respond, they would have said so. But against high-level enemies waging guerrilla warfare, they had no countermeasure.
"We need to shorten the front line."
Han Jiyu proposed reducing the front line. If their forces were concentrated, guerrilla tactics would lose their effectiveness—it was the only way to reduce casualties. But—
"We maintain the front line."
In the phase of expanding into northern Gumi, Jeong Hangyeol didn't want to let go of the territory they'd secured.
"Then... we'll have to deploy the reserve quasi-combatants."
"Deploying quasi-combatants will create gaps in our main base's defense."
"That won't work. Absolutely not."
"But if our personnel aren't concentrated, we can't repel high-level enemy attacks without losses."
The officers threw out various opinions, and the situation room grew noisy.
In this situation, Jeong Hangyeol and Han Jiyu's heads were pounding, and Kang Dohyun, watching from the sidelines, barely held back a laugh.
Having observed the meeting, Kang Dohyun immediately grasped the fundamental problem.
I'm the one who ruined everything.
Originally, the Gumi Student Front's advance into northern Gumi would have been delayed for nearly half a year.
Because they couldn't break through the Gumi High School Group, which had been holding strong around Choi Yejun.
But during those six months, the Gumi Student Front would have built up its internal strength, raised its overall level, and researched methods to deal with high-level warriors—creating countermeasures.
By assassinating Choi Yejun, Kang Dohyun had eliminated the Gumi Student Front's period of building internal strength.
As a result, the Gumi Student Front, with insufficient internal strength, had advanced into northern Gumi and run into this problem.
To grow properly, they need to build internal strength now.
They needed to raise the average level of their fighters and master methods to deal with high-level warriors—to stop the war and build internal strength.
But right now, Jeong Hangyeol showed no intention of building internal strength. He was filled with ambition to conquer northern Gumi.
After the meeting, Kang Dohyun had a further conversation with Jeong Hangyeol and Han Jiyu.
"We have no countermeasure. No countermeasure at all."
Jeong Hangyeol said they had no solution. But Han Jiyu and Kang Dohyun knew what the solution was.
Stop the occupation, have the fighters hunt zombies to level up, and during that time, the officers could find ways to deal with high-level enemies.
But since Jeong Hangyeol kept wanting to continue the occupation, there was no solution.
"Jiyu-ya, is there any good method?"
Jeong Hangyeol asked Han Jiyu again, who had always come up with good solutions. He was asking in case she had a method she hadn't mentioned because of the other officers.
"Let's reduce the occupied territory. And if we move defensively, the enemy won't attack recklessly. We have the numbers advantage."
Han Jiyu proposed a compromise that reflected Jeong Hangyeol's opinion. But—
"No. This is the time to occupy. Since we've already started."
Jeong Hangyeol didn't back down from his position.
As the meeting dragged on, Jeong Hangyeol cautiously looked at Kang Dohyun and spoke.
"Could you perhaps... step in, Dohyun-nim?"
In fact, this was the real reason for the meeting. The reason only three people remained was because Jeong Hangyeol wanted to ask Kang Dohyun for a favor.
He believed that if they could eliminate the new ace warrior that had emerged in the hostile coalition, the occupation would become easy again.
"Hmm..."
When Kang Dohyun paused for a moment, Jeong Hangyeol pressed more actively.
"I'm begging you. I'll give you a substantial reward."
"Well... I'm not someone for whom reward is important."
At the words that reward wasn't important, Jeong Hangyeol brought up something else.
"For Jia's sake... could I beg you?"
When he brought up Han Jia, Kang Dohyun deliberately put on a troubled expression.
"I'll beg you too."
Even Han Jiyu, the older sister, stepped forward. From her current position, Kang Dohyun was the only solution.
As expected, they choose the easy path.
Kang Dohyun wore a troubled expression, but inside he was laughing.
The next day.
Despite having no countermeasure, the Gumi Student Front's occupation of northern Gumi resumed.
But that day—
"Team G! We need help urgently!"
"Team J has also spotted the enemy!"
"We're in combat at four locations simultaneously!"
The northern Gumi coalition's resistance intensified.
They had formed four guerrilla teams, repeatedly picking out the Gumi Student Front's weakest points for surprise attacks.
As a result—
"This is... too much."
Nine dead in just the morning.
Han Jiyu judged that continuing the occupation this way was absolutely unacceptable. So—
"All forces, retreat. Fall back to point ZW."
She overstepped her authority. She had decided to retreat the defensive front line to a smaller area. At that—
"Han Jiyu! What are you doing! Why are we withdrawing!!"
Jeong Hangyeol's furious voice reached Han Jiyu over the radio.
"Hangyeol-ah! This is wrong! This is too reckless! We need to regroup!"
"If we don't do it now, we won't be able to occupy the north!!"
Everyone in the situation room heard the two of them fighting over the radio.
They're getting desperate.
This news would spread quickly among everyone, and Jeong Hangyeol and Han Jiyu's mental composure would gradually disappear.
That evening.
Kang Dohyun met with Han Jiyu alone. And the proposal he made was, to Han Jiyu, utterly absurd.
"What did you say? Am I hearing this correctly?"
"Yes, that's correct. If you sleep with me, I'll accept the commission."
At Kang Dohyun's proposal, Han Jiyu looked utterly dumbfounded.
"You're trash."
"Well... I am trash. I'm an assassin, after all."
He was an assassin who took assassination commissions. He was exceptionally capable, but Kang Dohyun was an assassin.
At those words, Han Jiyu faced reality.
"I made a mistake... letting you have my sister. You bastard."
Even at her harsh words, Kang Dohyun smiled.
"Jia-ssi is an angel. An angel too good for me. I'm trash, that's why I love an angel like Jia-ssi. Hahaha!"
But his demand remained unchanged.
"But my condition stands—that you must sleep with me for me to accept the commission."
"....."
Han Jiyu stared at Kang Dohyun with venomous eyes, then—
Slap.
She struck his cheek very hard.
"You crazy, horny bastard! I'd never sleep with you! You rotten piece of shit!"
Then she clumsily cursed and refused, leaving the place first.
Kang Dohyun had been slapped by a woman for the first time in a long while.
"Hehehe."
Rather, he laughed. And it didn't even hurt much.
How long will she hold out?
Kang Dohyun was curious about how long Han Jiyu would resist. And in the end—
As long as Jeong Hangyeol doesn't give up, Han Jiyu will have no choice but to sleep with me.
The outcome was already decided.