100. Immortal Cult (1)
The misunderstandings had been cleared up, and Ulsan Airport—long shrouded in darkness—finally blazed with bright lights once more. And beneath those brilliant lights…
"Guhh. Delicious food after so long! Thank you so much!"
"Being able to stuff ourselves with tasty grub like this... How friggin' happy is that! Ah, we aren't imposing, are we?"
An impromptu feast had broken out.
It had been hard to notice amid the chaos of battle, but the survivors at Ulsan Airport had been grappling with severe food shortages. Starved for proper meals for so long, they went wild at the provisions supplied by the Balhut Cult, devouring the spread on the tables like ravenous beasts.
"Ah, no, no. We've got plenty of food to spare. You're not imposing at all. That said... isn't this too much for your stomachs all at once?"
"We still fought at full strength even on empty stomachs."
"It just tasted like absolute shit."
Of course, slamming a massive amount of food into an empty belly could lead to serious food comas or other issues, but Jin A-yeon insisted it wasn't that bad—they'd never quite starved. The food they'd scraped together had simply been so wretchedly tasteless that they'd griped about it.
Even without Jeong Dong-gun's aid, they could've harvested crops from nearby farms or scavenged seasonings from abandoned homes and held out for a few more months.
"This... it's made from crops you harvested from the farms, right?"
"Yeah. Processed stuff like instant ramen is hitting its expiration date."
"Hm. Ours never tasted this good."
With the apocalypse dragging on past half a year, even instant ramen—the go-to emergency staple—had reached the end of its shelf life. Only jerky and canned goods remained as reliable backups.
From here on, securing food meant tilling fields at local farms and waiting for harvest seasons.
"That's because harvest times vary. The quality and flavor of crops change with the seasons."
"Ooh. We just grabbed whatever looked edible without a thought... So there's optimal harvest windows each season, huh."
"Exactly. That aside..."
Crops had their own seasonal harvest windows, affecting their quality. They'd probably eaten stuff picked too early or too late, resulting in subpar produce. It wasn't rotten or inedible, but hardly the stuff of gourmet dreams.
In this apocalypse, chasing flavor was a luxury anyway. Best to gloss over it.
"I'm curious. You're the hero they called out in Japan—why are you holed up here at Ulsan Airport? If you'd stayed in Japan, wouldn't they have rolled out the red carpet?"
"Well, see..."
Extending a small gesture of goodwill to Ulsan Airport's survivors, Jeong Dong-gun turned to Jin A-yeon with a grave expression and posed his question.
Jin A-yeon had been the linchpin in liberating Fukuoka—a true hero. She'd only lost to him due to overwhelming gear disparity and depleted stamina from food shortages. On equal footing?
I'd have lost. Her power's on par with Lady Seol-hwa before she became the Dragon Priestess. The kind of strength to rule or dominate a region.
Jeong Dong-gun foresaw his own defeat. Had she stayed in Japan, Fukuoka would've treated her like royalty—no need for this ragged existence.
Jin A-yeon pondered for a moment, her face conflicted.
"We got shipwrecked on the way back to Korea."
"Hah?"
She described her group's plight as a shipwreck. Jeong Dong-gun stared at her in bewilderment, but she turned away, cheeks faintly flushed, and slowly began to explain.
"No, I mean... We were worried about family back home, and life in Japan as foreigners was getting uncomfortable. Since we'd earned some cred, we got the Fukuoka mayor's backing, hopped on a ship, and made it near Korean waters."
Fukuoka was a port city, and plenty of fishing boats and vessels had survived the apocalypse intact. Press-ganging a few ownerless ones into service with an official decree to support the city's hero? No one would've batted an eye.
Helping the savior of their lives? Refusing would've been a betrayal of basic decency. And since she and her crew were the ones who'd reclaimed the city, Fukuoka's leadership would've bent over backward to repay the debt—arranging safe passage back to Korea.
"Not impossible. But why not Busan?"
Jeong Dong-gun pointed out the obvious flaw—why Ulsan, not Busan?
"For reclaiming the peninsula, Busan makes a better base than Ulsan, no?"
A hero who'd liberated Fukuoka had the know-how for urban conquests. Returning to reclaim the peninsula? Busan would've been ideal for building a foothold. By the time the Balhut Cult unified Gyeongju, they'd already reclaimed a major city like Pohang—Busan's survivor camps would've welcomed Fukuoka's hero with open arms.
In this apocalypse, a powerhouse awakener who could protect you was a political goldmine. Jeong Dong-gun knew that all too well.
Lady Seol-hwa before becoming Dragon Priestess was that type. Sure, there might be jealousy or envy from camp leaders, like with Pohang's reclamation. But with her track record and backing, it's doable.
Yet here she was in smaller-scale Ulsan.
"Busan's too risky. Even in Japan, Korean news trickled in. They said Seoul—big population—is a living hell now."
"Fair. Word is Seoul's holding the zombie waves at bay along the Han River, centered on hero Kim Su-ho."
But Jin A-yeon looked troubled, deeming Busan too dangerous and opting for the smaller Ulsan. She cited Seoul as evidence, and Jeong Dong-gun—who'd kept tabs on the capital—nodded in understanding.
Seoul was barricaded along the Han River against zombie hordes, with standout hero Kim Su-ho rallying old government agents to hold the line.
They called it a million-strong army. Seoul's population? Probably more.
Community intel pegged over a million zombies infesting Seoul proper, making the Han a last-stand defense. Rumors swirled that if it fell, Kim Su-ho would retreat to Namhansanseong, then Gwangju.
"Rumor has it over half the peninsula's population turned zombie. Even I'd hesitate to clash head-on with a potential million-strong horde in Busan."
"Five hundred thousand or a million—same difference. I get the sentiment. Us too."
If even Seoul's top hero was buckling under zombie numbers, Fukuoka's hero had every reason to fear. Busan might not have a million undead, but banking solely on that? She'd witnessed Fukuoka's apocalypse horrors firsthand. Complacency killed here, and easier targets eased the mind.
Jeong Dong-gun empathized deeply.
"So we came to Ulsan instead. With the ship, sneaking through chaotic ports was a breeze."
"...If you knew peninsula news, why not Pohang? We were reclaiming it right then."
"W-well..."
Jin A-yeon averted her eyes. She fidgeted with her fingers, restless, avoiding Jeong Dong-gun's gaze. Her companions—staring at him during his words—suddenly whipped their heads away in silence.
"Ah."
Son Sang-hee let out a pitying sigh at the scene. It wasn't unfamiliar to her.
That demeanor screamed...
"Is it... because of the Balhut Cult?"
"...Mmmph! We don't wanna say this to the folks who fed us so well!"
Son Sang-hee's mention of the cult hit the nail on the head—Jin A-yeon and her crew bowed their heads in unison.
Yes, they'd skipped Pohang because of Gyeongju's Balhut Cult.
"W-we'd never heard the name in Korea before. S-sorry. It seemed... super suspicious. Insanely suspicious!"
"It is suspicious."
"Totally sus."
"Sorry, but... before meeting you, we thought you were just like the Immortal Cult—another shady cult."
Jin A-yeon apologized, but her comrades bluntly voiced their suspicions. Even the capable awakener who'd once led Ulsan Airport—now scarfing food beside her—apologized while referencing the Immortal Cult.
The Balhut Cult struck out on triple-play suspicion.
"Cough?!"
"Can't deny it! What now, boss? Guess it's fate!"
"...Ahem! We shouldn't be the ones saying that."
The Balhut Cult was way too suspicious! Korea had its share of cults, but this one wasn't even Christian-based—it sprang up worshiping some mystery dragon god. From the outside? Red flags everywhere!
Especially with the cult's reputation in the gutter back then. For Jin A-yeon returning from Japan, aligning with them took guts.
Why hitch to an unknown shady cult with bad PR when you're hot commodity elsewhere?
Jeong Dong-gun couldn't deny it. He'd heard the cult's external rep in Pohang too—it rang true.
And could she even thrive there? The military was his domain; she'd compete from scratch. Plus, Navy commander Kim Tae-sik had recently reclaimed influence under Dragon Priestess Baek Seol-hwa—bad luck, and she'd face that rivalry too.
But she's elite. Could freelance easy. Overthinking it?
Her displayed prowess rivaled or exceeded his. A powerhouse like that? Gyeongju might've suited her better.
"Sure, everyone in Yeongnam knows Jeong Dong-gun, Lee Hyun-ah, Lee Su-ah, and Yusu-seong. But... cult vibes aside, I can't compete with heavyweights like that."
"You're overestimating me. I'm just a regular soldier."
Jin A-yeon humbly cited the cult's top brass, claiming she couldn't measure up. Jeong Dong-gun winced inwardly at the "cult" label but got it—no one believed in Dragon God Bahamut without seeing him. Even the U.S., first contact, split internally: real or CGI hoax?
"Ahem. So we ended up in Ulsan and planned to settle here. One of my crew's from around here."
"That's why Ulsan Airport?"
"Nah. We aimed for the port district—link up with Fukuoka. But things went south, so we fell back on Han Seong-geun over there, who was holding the airport."
She had hometown ties and eyed Ulsan for a base, likely expanding from the airport. Jeong Dong-gun guessed as much, but she clarified: ports for Fukuoka ties and aid in Ulsan reclamation.
Sudden trouble forced her to lean on an ally holding the airport.
"So you got pushed all the way to Ulsan Airport."
"Pushed by who? A force that could rout a superhuman like you?"
"...The Immortal Cult."
And that ally confessed to Jeong Dong-gun: they'd been driven to Ulsan Airport by the Immortal Cult.