Episode 14 (Revised)
Episode 14 (Revised)
"Well, you see. Ohohoho. I am Kim Hye-seong, the leader who manages this place."
I really don't like his tone.
Lee Su-ah was also frowning as she looked at Kim Hye-seong.
Then.
"Oh my, look at you reading the room."
While sitting at his desk, Kim Hye-seong held something out to us.
It was like tea served to a guest; there were small refreshments, a teapot, and glass cups.
What he held out was a glass cup filled with fragrant tea.
"Please drink before it gets cold."
"Hmm..."
Tea in a situation like this....
I couldn't understand it.
Judging by the situation outside, it looked like he was squeezing the labor force dry.
But inside, it was different.
It was luxury itself.
Just looking at the perfume he used, and this tea and refreshments.
It was full of things I couldn't understand.
"Oh my, are you not going to drink it?"
As Kim Hye-seong hinted, Lee Su-ah picked up the glass cup once.
She nodded.
It meant it was pure tea with no poison or anything strange in it.
Slurp...
As I picked up the glass and drank, the truly fragrant scent and the feeling of warm tea going down made it seem like quite high-quality tea.
"So, why have you come here~? Just to visit? Lost in nostalgia?"
"...."
I would usually answer, but I just didn't want to.
Still, I had to keep my manners.
"Let's just say we came to visit."
"Ohohoho. Then I simply must introduce you to this utopia I've created!"
"Utopia?"
"Yes! With my genius brain, I've created a system like this!"
I watched the narcissistic Kim Hye-seong for a moment.
"Shall we go?"
Soon, Kim Hye-seong stood up from his chair and began to lead the way.
As he did, he spoke.
"When I first came here, I was very surprised. Inefficient systems, stupid executives, and so on. There were many things that needed to be changed."
"And so?"
"I decided to slowly take over this organization from the inside~ Because there were people who came with me."
"People who came with you."
"You must have seen them before. The two gatekeepers."
"You rose to the position of leader with just two guys?"
"Ohohoho, thank you for the compliment."
Kim Hye-seong's ability was truly impressive.
Even so, seeing how he gained the support of 50 or 60 people and snatched the leader position in one go.
"I applied the capitalist system exactly as it is."
"What, did you create a currency or something?"
"Exactly! But currency in a world like this is inefficient! So, I just had to make currency out of something efficient!"
"What is that?"
"Batteries."
What is this nonsense?
He used batteries as currency?
"Electricity is a means of survival. You can think of it as turning that into money."
"Huh...."
Following him, we arrived at a stream.
Water was flowing.
But there were some devices.
Things like turbines.
They were slowly turning along with the current.
"I produce electricity this way. Ah! And underground, there's also a way to produce electricity with bicycles!"
"Huh..."
"Our electricity sells for quite a high price, enough that people from other shelters come looking for it?"
Certainly.
It was astonishing.
This person had applied the capitalist system to the shelter using nothing but electricity.
"That's amazing."
"For real."
Lee Su-ah and I were also impressed.
However.
"Why are those people working like that?"
The people who were in the shelter before I left.
Most of them were plowing the fields.
"Oh my, I never told them to."
"You never told them to?"
"For them to survive, that work and pedaling the bicycles are the only options."
"Don't you need bicycles for that bicycle pedaling work?"
"I have to take a commission, at least!"
If so....
"What about Kim Su-bin and Park Jun-seo, who were engineering students?"
People I was close to.
They were colleagues who shared food and survival supplies with me before I left.
"Ohohoho! They are resting comfortably up there! It's best to cherish talent from the science and engineering fields!"
"Wow...."
He was certainly smart.
However.
"How are you solving the wealth gap?"
"Ohoho! That's a sharp question!?"
The biggest problem in a system like this is the wealth gap.
The gap in assets would grow endlessly, and because this couldn't be solved, revolutions and such happened.
"That must be solved through welfare."
"You collect taxes?"
"How much tax they pay is displayed on that large bulletin board every month. So everyone does it without complaint."
"Then... what if they don't pay taxes?"
"Minimum is exile, maximum is death."
Well.
Honestly, there's no reason to touch him.
I lost the desire to.
It's a system this guy set up well, and ruining it would be a villainous act.
But there was something I was curious about.
"I heard you're trading with a shelter, is it a shelter with quite a few people?"
At my words, Kim Hye-seong smiled with his eyes.
"Oh my, this information is going to leak. If you want to know more"
"Here."
I held out something he would like.
As someone who created capitalism, he knows that information is capital.
"Th-this is! Wine?!"
"Yeah."
It was wine I grabbed when I robbed the convenience store.
But it was a bit expensive.
"This is more than enough! No, it's too much!"
"Yeah, so tell me."
"There is a shelter in Sejong! Thanks to the presence of government officials, it's quite a sturdy place!"
"Hoho..."
In Sejong, huh.
It takes about an hour by car from here.
A shelter there....
Not bad.
"What's the exact location?"
"Since the value is left over, I'll tell you. I'll give you a map!"
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it! You're someone who communicates so well, why were you exiled?"
"I couldn't play politics."
"Oh dear... this is why I say liberal arts majors shouldn't hold management rights."
Well....
Seeing it in reality, it seems like he might be right.
"It's slightly tempting."
"Ohohoho!"
Seeing most of the guys who exiled me working like slaves like that.
It was a very satisfying sight.
Anyway.
When leaving the shelter again.
"Hey! Y-you, aren't you Choi Han!"
"Ch-Choi Han-ssi?"
The people who were working in the field saw the leader and me, and came out looking like beggars.
Their expressions were a mix of gladness and shame.
"Hello?"
I greeted them.
However.
"D-do you have anything to eat?"
"Even just one thing brought from outside!"
"Share just a little!"
They were grabbing my pant legs, begging.
However.
"Everyone! You are being a nuisance to the guest!"
At Kim Hye-seong's chilling words, they hesitated and moved away from me.
His charisma was significant.
"He's a decent leader."
"Yeah."
If you have a leader like this, at least you won't starve to death.
Because he has the outstanding ability to bring in a way to survive no matter what.
"Don't you have any thoughts of staying the night here? I'll give you a cheap rate!"
"No, I have to leave before the sun sets."
"That's a shame!"
I thought he was a villain, but it turned out he was a capable person.
Wow.
As expected, the real villains were the ones working in that field.
"I wanted to let you at least greet the science and engineering talents!"
"Well, if there's an opportunity next time... and this."
"Oops! What is this?"
"Please pass this on to my friends."
"Of course!"
I gifted food and clothes to those who were my colleagues.
Sounds of gratitude came from behind.
My steps felt a little lighter.
Leaving the shelter I had been at, I unfolded the map I had received.
"This is where we are."
I said, pointing to the map for Lee Su-ah.
Then.
"I think we can go like this?"
Lee Su-ah's suggestion.
However.
"Hmm... then we have to take the highway."
"But what if we don't take the highway?"
"It will take several times longer."
Lee Su-ah nodded at my words.
"Then it can't be helped. Let's take the highway."
We started walking slowly toward the highway.
"Is this it?"
What greeted us when we got on the highway was a completely different sight.
"Hmm..."
I was speechless.
The scene unfolding before my eyes was truly a spectacle.
The entire highway was filled with scrapped cars.
Vehicles twisted by accidents, charred remains with traces of explosions still intact, and even traces of a bus that had rushed from somewhere and pushed passenger cars aside.
On the asphalt, glass shards and rusted metal were tangled together, creating a landscape that looked like a grave left by the last of civilization.
And in between them, there were zombies.
Stuck under cars, wedged between trunks, or just wandering around blankly for no reason.
"There are zombies?"
"They are everywhere."
Numerous zombies were wandering around near the highway.
However.
This was actually an opportunity.
"Asura."
The giant Asura who had been quietly following us from a distance.
He ran over immediately.
"Kuaaaa!"
With his 6 arms and massive bulk, he was sending numerous zombies flying and crushing them.
"Let's rest for a moment."
"Okay."
After entrusting the zombie cleaning to Asura, we entered the camping car and rested for a while.
Who else could do this to the zombies that everyone in the apocalypse fears?
"This is really comfortable."
"That's what I'm saying."
About 10 minutes passed?
Kugung!
The camping car shakes.
"Whoa!"
Surprised, I went out, and Asura was huffing and puffing, shaking the camping car to let us know he had finished the job.
"Hey, just tell us, you jerk."
"Keureung!"
It seems he needs a soul.
I'm worried because that guy has too little intelligence.
"Su-ah. Let's go."
"Yeah."
We started walking down the wide-open highway.
The government complex located in Sejong Special Self-Governing City.
It had already fully taken on the appearance of a shelter.
Thick steel barriers surrounded the entire building, and an iron gate that was intimidating just by its weight was blocking the entrance.
Inside, the voices and footsteps of survivors and the noises of daily life were mixed and flowing.
Even after the world collapsed, this place was alive.
It was the kind of shelter all survivors dreamed of.
However.
"Haa..."
She, the leader of the shelter, let out a long sigh inside a narrow office without windows.
Not once, not twice.
The sighs that leaked out one after another were of a kind that made even the observer feel heavy.
Deep wrinkles were etched between her brows, and her gaze was fixed somewhere in the empty air.
A man cautiously approached her.
"Why are you like this, Saetbyeol-nim."
At his words, Saetbyeol frowned and answered shortly.
"Just... I feel uneasy about something."
"Is it because of what's in the basement?"
"...Yes."
The biggest headache of the Sejong large-scale shelter.
It was the basement.
It was reported that a swarm of zombies was teeming in the basement.
But even the expression 'reported' wasn't accurate.
Because no one had actually gone down to check.
How many things were there, or if there was something else besides zombies.
Nothing was certain.
Only the low, irregular noise leaking from beyond the wall was the only clue.
"What about the Awakener?"
"That guy... is sleeping like a log."
"Ha..."
Saetbyeol couldn't continue her words and closed her eyes.
The only Awakener they had was sleeping like a log.
He was a human who was a drunkard, whose daily routine was drinking alcohol all day and passing out; he was an Awakener in name only, no different from a scoundrel.
Her stomach churned.
But she couldn't kick him out either.
An Awakener is the boss.
That existence itself, possessing overwhelming combat power, was a kind of psychological shield for the people in the shelter.
-It's okay because that person is there.
That one belief was the driving force that kept hundreds of survivors going.
Even if he seemed useless, that alone was sufficient value.
What could she do?
"It's dangerous, no matter how you look at it."
Saetbyeol said in a low and firm voice.
"If we don't clean the basement quickly... I think something big will happen."
She knew intuitively that it was no longer a vague anxiety, but a matter of time.
"I will check."
The man bowed his head and left the room.
Saetbyeol remained alone again, and let out a long sigh once more.
Only the sound of the sigh filled the empty office.