Ambush (20)
Kim Seok-bong had been leading the way ever since they descended Cheonchu Mountain.
Two full days of travel, and they hadn't crossed paths with a single monster.
"Are there just no monsters around here?"
Jeon Hye-ji asked. They had all stopped to rest atop ground cracked and split from the long drought.
"Plenty. No monsters means I'd be out of the shelter business. There's no special reason — it just means my pathfinder skills are that good. Everyone, take a good look. That's what an A-rank pathfinder looks like."
Won-goo said this while pointing at Kim Seok-bong, who sat a little apart from the group, eating a sandwich by himself.
"If he weren't tangled up with the Black Shelter, I imagine we could have made use of him often."
"Maybe. But as long as he's doing Black Shelter work, he and us aren't going to get close."
THUD!
A body slammed into the trailer, and everyone's eyes turned toward it.
Geum Chul-soo had been summoning the Dullahan to practice every spare moment he had. At first it could barely move at all, but by now it could walk without trouble. It still had a long way to go to match the combat power the Dullahan had shown at the river crossing, but it was adapting fast.
CRASH!
"Chul-soo! You're going to wreck the whole thing! Take it outside and move around a bit."
"S-seems like he's h-having fun."
"He's not completely oblivious, that one. He knows there's more to life than watching the weather."
"What do you intend to do about Chul-soo's path? Are you planning to steer him toward summoning, my friend?"
"What's your take, old man?"
"I think it suits him well enough."
"That's my read too. Chul-soo hasn't eaten many coins yet, so I figured he'd be fine with it."
"So you're building him around the item instead."
Jo Mu-sa chimed in while tending to Lee Hyun-sung's wounds.
"Right. There's more than one way to skin a cat. And besides, Chul-soo loves it. That thing's a lot more disorienting than it looks, you know? Apparently not for him, though. He's just built for it."
"A fine thing. He's drifting further and further in, though."
"Tell me about it. Everyone else is finding their place, and it feels like one man's getting left out."
"Who? Me?"
Every gaze in the group swiveled to Mu Beob-sa with pinpoint precision.
"I never said I was the old-timer here."
Mu Beob-sa scowled and closed his eyes, thinking he needed to untangle his mana circuits, twisted as they were, and quickly.
"Seok-bong!"
"Yes, sir!"
The moment his name rang out, Kim Seok-bong came right over.
"Did the calculation come through? You think we can catch them?"
"The situation's even better than that."
"Better? How?"
"I think we might be able to get ahead of them."
"Oh…"
"You're not just saying that to keep the conversation going, are you?"
"I'm not."
"Then setting up an ambush and waiting is the best move."
"I didn't expect you'd go this far for us?"
"When I do a job, I do it properly. That's my style."
"I like that style. So — any good ideas?"
"If you head straight in, you come out at a subway station."
"A subway? Which one? There's a station around here?"
"Amsa Station. Even as a pathfinder, I couldn't tell you why it's there. The most credible theory is that after the apocalypse began, the land shattered like a mosaic and got stitched back together at random."
"I know all that. What I'm asking is — you're not suggesting we go underground, are you?"
Kim Seok-bong shook his head vigorously.
"Are you insane? Going down there is suicide."
"Then what?"
"There's a place to rest up top."
"Wouldn't monsters be crawling all over a station?"
"The underground is still hell. But the surface part's clean."
"Ah — you cleared it out because of the Black Shelter crowd, didn't you?"
Kim Seok-bong nodded.
"So what's your solution?"
"Strike them while they sleep. Best option there is, isn't it?"
"It is the best, but… hold on a second."
"What's wrong?"
"Doesn't that mean the Black Shelter's already claimed Amsa Station?"
"Claimed is a strong word. There's nothing up top, really."
"But they're using the rest area, aren't they?"
"That's true."
"Then there have to be rules for using that space, no?"
"It's not exactly a managed area, so…"
"There'd be farming rules, surely. Groups converging on the same spot at the same time — and disputes don't exactly run rare around here."
"There are rules like that. Don't touch someone else's corpse, don't pull a dead man's weapon. Roughly the same as the rules outside. We're not so different, really."
"Good enough for me."
"…?"
"We're just going to leave a corpse there. Chul-soo!"
"Yes, sir!"
The sound of Geum Chul-soo hurrying over reached them.
"Seok-bong. We've cleared up the misunderstanding — how about we get a little friendlier while we're at it?"
"Sir?"
"You can make a trace, right? Just one combat trace. That's all I need."
Amsa Station Exit 4.
The way down into the subway was remarkably clean, but everything around it was little more than ruin. Not a single building held its true shape. Most were heaps of scrap metal and rubble, and only a few here and there preserved even a fragment of what they'd once been.
A sign read: Bossam Ribs.
The rest had crumbled away, making it impossible to know what the establishment had originally been. Beneath that sign, a roughly circular space had been cleared where survivors could rest.
There was nothing special about it. It simply meant that the ground around it was clear enough to sit down.
By the time the Youngjae Pharmacy group reached Amsa Station, the sun was bleeding into dusk.
"Branch Leader! There's a corpse over here!"
It was Hwang Chul, an employee of Youngjae Pharmacy and a low-ranking tendril of the Cheonmok syndicate, shouting.
"Don't touch it!"
A rasping voice boomed back at him.
The pathfinder guiding them into the Black Shelter — Hikan.
He'd earned the name because burn scars on both sides of his head kept the hair from growing there. With nothing growing on either side, only a strip down the middle remained, which naturally grew into a mohawk — and so, Hikan.
At Hikan's shout, everyone froze mid-motion. A pathfinder watching his employer's mood was the norm, but a pathfinder who guided people into the Black Shelter occupied a different station entirely. Leading the worst of humanity to the bottom of the barrel tended to demand more than ordinary nerve — and Hikan had the skill to back it up.
He studied the cleanly beheaded corpse, then swept his gaze across the surrounding traces. The body, clad in a tattered green rain poncho, lay face-down, a longsword gripped tight in its hand.
"A cut that clean — whoever did this was no ordinary fighter."
"Mister Hikan. You told us there wouldn't be anyone here."
Stepping quietly forward was the ponytailed man — Kim Hee-jun, the man in charge of this operation. Square-jawed Kim Hee-jun flexed and unflexed his right hand as he spoke.
"I said there might be people who came before us."
"You didn't mention anything about a situation like this, though."
"Everyone uses this place."
"That's exactly my point. This is, by any measure, a serious situation."
"…"
Hikan and Kim Hee-jun locked eyes.
"Disagreements happen, sure… but this one's looking a bit serious, no?"
"Even if it is, it's none of our concern. Headquarters will handle anything involving this. All we have to do is not touch that body."
"So you're saying there'll be no problem?"
"There is a problem. If whoever owns that corpse doesn't come back soon, we'll have to sleep right beside it."
"Couldn't we just move it a little?"
Hwang Chul offered — but Hikan shook his head firmly.
"Moving it is touching it. Set up around it. There was a fight here, and… a few people fled. Whoever chased them — whether they survived or not — once it's settled, they'll come back."
"And if they don't come back until late? As you can see, everyone's exhausted."
"That's what happens when your customer wants to arrive ahead of schedule, isn't it?"
"Fine. Then we rest. If something happens in the evening—"
"Don't worry. Do you really think the Black Shelter operates without even that much protocol?"
Hikan stepped into the ruins and flicked a switch lying on the ground. Light bloomed on the station sign outside — but not on every letter. Only on a single character: Am.
"They won't rush straight in now. They'll sweep the light over the outside first. Whoever's on watch, if you spot the signal, wake me. All I have to do is go explain the situation."
"That's all?"
"Did you expect something more? Not everyone in the Black Shelter is a lunatic."
"Let's rest, then."
Survivors drifting through the outside world traveled in groups unless there was a special reason to do otherwise. The reason was simple: alone, there was no covering the hours when you were at your most vulnerable. Taking turns sleeping was close to common sense among survivors. Except for Won-goo's crew, almost no one could sleep without a watch rotation — and that single fact alone made plenty of people desperate to join them. No more catnapping in fear.
The plan Won-goo had laid out wasn't complicated. Flush out the pathfinder from the Youngjae Pharmacy group, then ambush them. Simple — but a few details had to be nailed down.
"The light's on."
"Then pull him out. That works in your favor too, doesn't it? Go on, quick."
"Understood."
Kim Seok-bong moved. A little apart from the group, he fired a flare that burst into a cascade of colors.
"Chul-soo."
"Yes."
"The moment the Dullahan lies down, you get it over to our side immediately. Got it? That's how Su-won and Mu-sa can move up in support."
A nod.
"And Hye-ji."
"Yes."
"You still have to find your brother and sisters, don't you?"
"…"
"That means staying alive a long time. Right?"
"Yes."
"Then think of those people as monsters. Don't hesitate. Not even for a second. Understood?"
"I understand."
"Old man."
"I'll handle myself."
"No, I mean — earn your keep at least."
"I will. Watch yourself, Director. You know Cheonmok's people are no pushovers, don't you?"
"I know."
"A branch leader is pre-surgery Dinosaur territory. Genuinely dangerous."
"If it worries you that much, maybe Mu Beob-sa can lead the charge this time."
"Ngh…"
A low groan leaked out of Mu Beob-sa. Won-goo pulled his eyes off him and met Lee Hyun-sung's gaze.
"Nobody wastes time. You all know the radio's expensive, right? And these things don't last long either. One slip and the ambush loses its point entirely. So we move exactly as planned."
He hammered the warning home once more, and the crew nodded hard.
Then, little by little, they began moving toward Amsa Station. The darkness was so thick that even a few meters ahead blurred into black, but the two of them pushed on toward the faint glow of the station without hesitation.
Around that time, a group emerged from the rest area inside Amsa Station and headed toward Kim Seok-bong. Hikan led them, five in all — and none of them noticed Won-goo and Lee Hyun-sung closing in from the dark.
「We've made contact with Kim Seok-bong and their pathfinder, Director.」
Jo Mu-sa's voice came through.
"Good. Hold position."
He answered in a whisper, then turned to Lee Hyun-sung.
"Hyeong-nim. They've taken their sentries out with them. Nobody's left at the entrance."
"Thank you. Geum Chul-soo — start it up. Go wild. Pull every eye you can."
「Yes, sir.」
The moment the answer came, a scream tore out from inside the rest area.
The headless corpse lying at the center of the room bolted upright and swung its longsword — which was, for all practical purposes, walking into a horror film.
Panic.
"F-fuck! It's a Dullahan!"
"The pathfinder! You son of a bitch! You couldn't even tell a monster apart?!"
"Sang-jung! Get up!"
"Grab it! Kill it!"
Into that chaos, Lee Hyun-sung and Won-goo plunged in —
eyes burning with madness.