Shelter (2)
Shelter (2)
"No!!!!"
"No??"
At the ajumma's scream, not knowing what exactly was not allowed, I looked around.
There were no dead people, and no one was injured.
There was nothing particularly worth shouting about like that...
"No... No..."
Thud-
Running over in a hurry, the ajumma fell to her knees on the floor covered in the blood of the monster I had killed, extending trembling hands.
What the hell is with this ajumma...
It was a completely incomprehensible situation.
Because the place where she extended her trembling hands with pitiful eyes, as if she had lost a family member, was the corpse of the monster I had killed just a moment ago.
Click! Click! Click! Click!
"Drop your gun and put your hands on your head!"
"If you fail to comply, we will open fire!"
"You crazy bastards, after we kept you alive...!"
Are both this ajumma and these military brats crazy as a pair?
Instead of a thank you, they're pointing gun barrels at me?
"Oppa... listen to them first..."
"What did I even do wrong?!"
"We're outnumbered."
"......"
Just as Minseo said, we were outnumbered.
Though Minseo and Kwon Juha were there, I was the only one holding a gun, whereas there were nine soldiers with guns.
No matter how fast I pulled the trigger, I might turn one or two into a beehive, but in the end, my own body would become one.
Damn it... I really don't fit in here at all.
Just as I was left with no choice and about to drop the gun in my hand onto the floor, Captain Kim Hyunjun, who had boarded the helicopter together with me, revealed himself from behind the soldiers pointing their guns at me.
"Inside the shelter, possession of firearms is prohibited for everyone except authorized soldiers."
"That's why I was about to drop it right now."
"Oppa, you spoke informally just now..."
"So what?"
Clatter!
I roughly dropped the rifle onto the floor.
And there was no need to show any more politeness in this place.
Because I was going to get out of here.
It felt like only about an hour had passed since I arrived here, but the regulations and rules binding me were choking me to the point of suffocation.
I'll just stay around this neighborhood and survive on my own.
If a monster that I can't handle appears—which I'm still worried about—well, since I'll be close by anyway, I can just dump it on these guys.
The biggest problem is that crafty bitch...
"Hey, Kim Minseo."
"Yes?"
"Are you going to follow me if I leave this place?"
"......"
"You don't want to?"
"It's not that I don't want to... but can't we just stay here??"
"No. It's stuffy."
"Tsk... But I want to stay here..."
"Forget it. If you're coming, follow me."
"D-Don't move!!"
"Shoot if you move!!"
"Everyone lower your weapons."
Thanks to Captain Kim Hyunjun, who once again lowered the soldiers' gun barrels, I walked my steps even more proudly, and the soldiers who lowered their guns split in half to make a path matching my pace.
Tap-tap-tap-tap!!
Tap-tap-tap-tap!!
Click! Click! Click!
"Are you alright?!"
"Are you all safe?!"
"They really do all sorts of things."
This time, more than ten soldiers appeared, blocking the hallway and once again pointing their gun barrels at me.
No, I only saved people who were about to die, so why are you all pointing guns at me and acting up?!
With annoyance surging up fiercely, I turned my head to look at Captain Kim Hyunjun, who made a hand gesture to the soldiers as if telling them to lower their guns, and then approached me.
"Kang Hajin-ssi."
"Why?"
"......"
"Aish, let's just go comfortably. American style."
"Be that as it may. Then let me ask you just one thing."
"What?"
"What trait did you acquire?"
What kind of fresh bullshit is this again.
Me acquiring a trait... Huh??
An exclamation mark was flashing once again in the lower right corner of my vision.
Did I really acquire a trait?
[You acquire the trait, Sturdy Muscles (E).]
[Overlapping traits evolve.]
[You acquire the trait, Steel Muscles (D).]
What? Overlapping traits evolve?
Can you acquire high-grade traits this way?
Jackpot, I've obtained some incredible information here.
『Steel Muscles (D) - Strength +10%, Defense +10%』
Strength and defense increases, huh...
"Hehehe..."
I couldn't hold back the leaking laughter.
I didn't really want to blurt out this information that probably only I would know... Wait a minute!
Now wasn't the time for me to be enjoying myself, was it?
Asking out of the blue what trait I acquired meant they knew that the monster I killed possessed a trait.
Which meant these guys wouldn't just let me acquire a trait and smoothly slip out of this place.
I wasn't about to grind grain only to give it to a dog.
They'd probably try to kill me to steal the trait.
Swoosh-
Grab!
My left hand, slowly lifted up, grabbed Captain Kim Hyunjun's shoulder.
Whether he trusted Kim Hyunjun or judged that it was still okay, the other soldiers didn't make any move, but...
Whoosh!!
Feeling something, Kim Hyunjun had his eyes furrowed for a split second, and instead of the right shoulder where his shoulder was grabbed, he reached out his left hand. Lifting my right hand, I parried his approaching left hand and struck hard against Kim Hyunjun's shoulder with my palm.
Whack!!
Swish!!
Pulling the left shoulder bouncing backward and the left hand gripping his right shoulder, I instantly spun Kim Hyunjun around to use him as my human shield, while quickly bringing the right hand that had shoved his chest down and drawing a pistol from the holster hanging at my waist.
Click-
The muzzle pressed against Kim Hyunjun's forehead and the soldiers' gun barrels rising toward me all at once.
Click! Click! Click! Click!
"Oppa!!"
"Captain!!"
"Drop the gun, you bastard!!!"
"I'll count to three. If you don't drop that gun, consider a hole blown right through your head."
"Before that, looks like a hole's gonna be blown through this bastard's head first?"
"......"
Unlike the fussing soldiers, Kim Hyunjun was shining his eyes calmly.
Even with a muzzle pressed against his head, he was quite calm.
Well, being in a special forces brigade? Naturally, he'd have plenty of nerve.
Or maybe he had something else he was counting on.
"You got me. I thought you'd do something, but I didn't think you'd take me hostage like this."
"Since you know now, tell your goons to lower their guns."
"Sorry, but that's a no."
"You're going to die, you know?"
"Then you'll die too. Didn't you take me hostage because you didn't want to die?"
"......"
Right, taking someone hostage is because you want to live yourself.
The guy saw right through that accurately, and that's why even though I took this guy hostage, I was still in a disadvantaged position.
Damn it...
"What do you want?"
"Isn't that the question I should be asking?"
"Getting safely out of here."
"Impossible."
"Reason? Because of the trait I got from killing that monster?"
"No, because you possess the power to kill such a monster alone. We need your strength. We want you to stay here and lend us your strength."
Captain Kim Hyunjun's proposal might be the best option for me after all.
Of course, provided this offer was true and not a lie.
"How am I supposed to believe your words? If I were you, I wouldn't join forces by trusting the bastard who pointed a gun at my head."
"It was a mishap that happened due to a small misunderstanding. I'm not such a petty person."
"......Me neither."
"Really??"
"Shut up."
The moment I was silencing Minseo who was cutting in without reading the mood, the ajumma who had been kneeling in front of the dead monster's corpse stood up, walked step by step toward me, and without a shred of fear, reached out her hand to grab the pistol touching Captain Kim Hyunjun's forehead.
Does she really have no fear? Or does she not care if Kim Hyunjun dies?
"Didn't I say so? It's a world where as long as you're strong, you can be forgiven for anything. So I'll forgive you for killing my precious experimental subject too, so put this gun down and follow me. I'll make you want to stay here."
"Let's go together. Once you see it, your mind will change."
"......"
"Let's just go for now."
Ajumma and Kim Hyunjun turned around and started walking without a single ounce of lingering attachment, to the point where Minseo's subtle instigation and the pistol in my hand felt utterly foolish.
"Sigh... I don't know anymore."
I too turned around and started walking after the two of them, and even Minseo and Kwon Juha quickly came to my side and started walking together.
And just to show that I was also a magnanimous person, I handed the pistol to the holster of a soldier along the way.
"Oppa."
"Why?"
"Don't tell me you gave him your pistol to look magnanimous? You shouldn't have. Caring about stuff like that just makes you look pettier."
"Shut up."
"Okay~"
"......"
I wanted to smack Minseo who was smiling broadly, but if I blew my top here, it would be equivalent to admitting I was petty, so I couldn't bring myself to actually do it.
Anyway, seeing me care about things like this, I guess I really am petty.
By the way, what are they trying to show us?
With no idea where our destination was, walking forward along with the ajumma and Kim Hyunjun leading the way, followed by the soldiers behind us, we encountered a sight that felt both too ordinary and yet not ordinary at all.
People playing soccer on the field, people playing basketball on the basketball court, people playing tennis on the tennis court, families taking a stroll with young children, and couples spending time alone under the warm sunlight.
And...
"Where on earth is this..."
"Wow..."
"......"
In a large lobby inside a huge building, people sitting on sofas and chairs placed here and there were watching a movie coming from a big TV.
As if it were the most natural thing in the world.
And on one side, people sitting at desks with monitors around 30 inches placed on them were busily moving their fingers and pressing game pads, and going up another floor, there were people reading books in a place decorated like a library.
"How is it?"
"It's the best!"
"How on earth is something like this possible?? Electricity was definitely cut off, but..."
At Minseo's thumbs up and Kwon Juha's ensuing question, the ajumma answered with a very triumphant look.
"The electricity here is being supplied by a generator bought from the shop."
"A generator?? Isn't that super expensive??"
"That's right. It hasn't been many days since we started living like this. Today is precisely the 3rd day."
"Soldiers, as well as civilians capable of hunting, all pay a certain amount of coins like a tax every day. Those coins are used to repair and reinforce the generator installed here as well as the outer walls surrounding this site. Besides that, coins are used solely for the common interest."
Taking over the ajumma's words and finishing the reply, Captain Kim Hyunjun turned his gaze toward me and asked.
"Do you still want to leave this place?"
"......"
Damn it, if you show people something like this, the answer is already set.
Is the power of a collective truly something that cannot be ignored?
Though Jeongseongmin's group, who raised useless luck stats to figure out how to acquire traits, also showed the power of a collective, this place was on a completely different dimension.
Just how many people had gathered here to buy a generator costing a whopping 10,000 coins?
Did they buy an even more expensive generator than that, by any chance?
"Oppa, let's talk for a moment!"
"Hurry up!!"
While various doubts were swirling around in my head, Minseo and Kwon Juha grabbed my arms, pushed my back, and dragged me off to a secluded spot.
They must be going to say we should stay here.
"Oppa! Let's not leave and just live here!"
"That's right! There's no need to needlessly go out into the dangerous outside! And... why didn't you ask me if I was going to come along..?"
"Your goal was coming here in the first place, it wasn't because you wanted to stay with me."
"...Bad bastard."
"What??"
"Just bear with it, Juha-ssi. Even if he talks like that, he probably did it for Juha-ssi's sake. In case he felt like he was dragging you along by force."
"Really..?"
"Even if he's petty, he's a guy who takes care of his own people. If not, I would've died several times already, you know?"
"......"
"What on earth is this bitch rambling on about since earlier?! You wanna die?!"
"Eek!!"
Minseo fleeing toward where the ajumma was, and Kwon Juha staring intently at me as if asking what I was going to do.
"We'll stay here for now."
"Really??"
"It's not final. And if you want to follow me, you can follow me. The choice is yours."
"Yes!"
Leaving behind Kwon Juha, who answered vigorously with a brightened face, I returned to where Captain Kim Hyunjun was and asked a few questions about this place.
"You said coins are paid like a tax every day, how much do we have to pay?"
"10 coins per person. Up to 30 coins depending on necessity."
A reasonable amount.
At most, you just need to catch about 10 zombie-fied people.
If they were real zombies, around 5.
"Any other rules to follow?"
"Prohibition of illegal acts such as murder, assault, rape, and theft within the shelter. Same as before the world changed. Also, follow the instructions of us soldiers. And in your case, you'll need to be deployed into various operations."
"It seems unreasonable to make an exception only for me?"
"You obtained a trait that someone else should have gotten, so you should endure at least that much. And you're a murderer, yet you'll be staying here."
"What do you mean?"
"People who committed murder outside and came here have a different place to reside. You can't enjoy facilities like this over there."
Whispering among themselves while coming here, that ajumma had already blurted everything out.
Such a loose-lipped ajumma.
Well, that's just how ajummas are.
"Then the people here are none of them murderers? Not a single one? You and your soldiers too?"
"......Except for eliminating dangerous individuals, we haven't committed murder."
"That means you're a murderer too, the same as me."
"That is...!"
"Forget it. It's actually more reassuring because of that."
"What does that mean?"
"There's nothing as frustrating as joining hands with brainless bastards who haven't even managed to commit murder. But since you collected enough coins to buy a generator, why are you so weak?"
"......Coins collected jointly are used for everyone. I don't use them personally to raise my stats."
"Ah, so that's why you're weak. You're an idiot too. You should have gotten strong yourself first before buying a generator."
"Just in case I say this, what you suffered from you earlier was just letting you off. Because the magazine of that pistol was empty anyway."
"Ah, yes. Is that so?"
"It's the truth."
"Who's saying otherwise? Don't act petty."
"Looks like he's holding onto it in his heart..."
"Didn't I tell you? He's narrow-minded."
After giving Kwon Juha and Minseo, who were muttering amongst themselves about me, a glare, I asked Captain Kim Hyunjun my final question.
"So the representatives here are you and this ajumma?"
"Ajumma? I'm a single woman who hasn't even married yet!"
"There is someone else leading this place. Since the topic came up, let's go pay our respects right now."
"Forget it, it's a hassle. If they want a greeting, tell them to come themselves. So, where should I stay from now on? I don't need quarantine or anything, right?"
"Quarantine is unnecessary. However, let's check your real skills first."
Captain Kim Hyunjun, saying he would check my real skills.
A short while later, I boarded a helicopter with Captain Kim Hyunjun and a few soldiers, and headed to yet another spawning ground for zombies.