Revenge Is My Strength
Cheongun University —
It was a university not far from the Slave House. As luck would have it, the apocalypse broke out on the final day of the festival, turning the area into a literal zombie den with the highest concentration of zombies around.
The building closest to the rear gate was the Language Building.
The situation of the survivors who had evacuated into this building was comparatively better. Beyond the rear gate was a row of restaurants and bars that could be scavenged.
A scavenging team centered around the young men searched the nearby restaurants and shops, securing food and supplies. Solar panels and water tanks on the roof meant that neither electricity nor water was cut off.
For the first few days, everyone helped one another and shared the food fairly, but the situation changed drastically when gangsters and punks active in the nearby entertainment district barged in.
About thirty hulking men stormed in armed with weapons and took over the building in an instant.
After the apocalypse broke out, gang boss Byeon Taesu gathered his remaining underlings and began looting the shops nearby.
Quick-witted Byeon Taesu hunted not only food and supplies but also survivors. He knew very well that he and his men couldn't survive on their own.
The men were captured and put to work like slaves, while the women were used to satisfy their sexual appetites. The sick, elderly, and children who got in the way were used as bait to gather zombies.
After looting anything and everything until they needed a base, they headed to Cheongun University, where infrastructure such as water and electricity remained.
Thus, the Language Building, the one closest to the rear gate, became the gangsters' hideout.
Language Building, 4th Floor —
The floor used by boss Byeon Taesu and his underlings.
A man is kneeling before Byeon Taesu, begging so desperately he is practically groveling.
"Hyungnim, please... Just one more time, just give me one more chance. I'll definitely fill my quota this time."
"Ha, fuck. Why am I your hyungnim? And you're making this fuss because you missed it once? This is the third time, the third—!!"
"Hyungnim, pleeease...."
The man lets fat tears fall as he slams his head against the floor.
"I told you clearly last time. If you don't fill it by today, your brat is zombie food, and I'm going to fuck your wife."
At these words, the man screams and clings to Byeon Taesu's foot. After crying and pleading several times, Byeon Taesu sends him away, saying he will give him one more chance.
A subordinate who had been listening from beside him asks Byeon Taesu.
"You're really going to give him a chance?"
"Are you insane? Send that bastard along the most dangerous route. You know, the place where the zombies move around in packs."
"Our guys can barely handle that place."
"Exactly. Send him. So he can go there and fucking die."
"What about the kid and his wife?"
"Send the wife to me later, and throw the kid outside when the time's right."
"Yes, hyungnim."
Another subordinate comes up from the floor below and bows his head to Byeon Taesu.
"Did you call for me, hyungnim?"
"What happened to the bastard who charged at me this morning? Did he go outside?"
"He's still in the classroom. The boys will take him out this evening."
That morning, one of the survivors on the second floor had charged at Byeon Taesu with a knife. He had tried to take revenge because Byeon Taesu had raped his girlfriend.
Before the knife could even touch Byeon Taesu's body, his subordinates caught him and beat him senseless. Byeon Taesu had looked baffled and ordered them not to kill him, but to give him to the scavenging team as zombie food.
"Take that girlfriend bitch out with him and make him watch her get torn apart and eaten. When it's over, you boys can take turns with her."
"Yes, hyungnim."
*
The survivors dragged into the classrooms on the second and third floors are scattered about under the gangsters' watch.
"Isn't Gijin going to die if he keeps going like that?"
"He'd be lucky to die here. They say they're going to use him as a meat shield when the scavenging team goes out this evening."
The voices of the two men standing by the door reach Han Gijin's ears as he writhes in a corner, his arms and legs broken.
They are classmates who had latched onto the gangsters, calling them hyungnim and begging for favor.
"Are we the ones who'll get fucked because of that bastard? He went after the big hyungnim."
"Who the fuck knows? If they cut off our rations, he's the first one I'm killing."
"Kill him, my ass. He'll be zombie food soon anyway.'"
She was his first girlfriend, but the gangsters had raped her. He had fallen for her at first sight during freshman orientation and, after struggling to work up the courage to confess, had finally started dating her. She was precious—he hadn't even had his first time with her yet—but those filthy bastards had taken turns raping her.
After hearing about it, his vision went red and he charged the boss, but the result was this mess. He hadn't even managed to touch a single hair on that bastard's head.
'If only I'd been a little faster... If only I'd had a little more strength... I could have stabbed him....'
His arms are broken, so he cannot wipe away his tears. His legs, bent in opposite directions, have no feeling in them.
'I'm not dying. I absolutely can't die like this.'
Even when he puts strength into his legs, they do not respond. He scratches at the floor with the fingers where he still has some sensation, but it is nowhere near enough to move his body.
His jaw must be dislocated, because blood and saliva drip from between his gaping lips. Blood has pooled in his nose, making it hard even to breathe, but there is nothing Han Gijin can do right now.
'Anyone... Please help me. I don't care if you're a demon, just please....'
He doesn't know how long he has been praying inwardly. If it means he can butcher those beasts, he would gladly sell his soul to a demon. Even if he were told to fall into the deepest pit of Hell, he would willingly do that.
As long as he were given the power to take revenge.
He is struggling to blink his badly swollen eyes when he sees something resembling letters floating in the air. At first they are faint, but as they draw closer, they form a clear sentence.
[Han Gijin has fulfilled the awakening condition of being prepared to face death and act for the person he loves. A status window containing related skills will be granted.]
'Now I'm seeing things. A status window, of all things.'
A moment ago, he had said he would sell his soul to a demon, but now he denies this because it feels unreal.
However, the translucent screen that appears next leaves Han Gijin no room to deny reality.
Name/Age: Han Gijin/21
Class: Enhancement Meister
Level: 1
EXP: 0/10
Points: 5pt
Skills:
— Physical Enhancement Lv.1
— EXP Plunder Lv.1
— Enhancement Addiction Lv.1
[You can use points to create Enhancement Capsules. When an ordinary person swallows an Enhancement Capsule, they can temporarily use an awakener's power.]
[The Meister can level up through enhancement bodies. When an enhancement body defeats zombies and mutants, the EXP Plunder skill transfers the experience to the Meister.]
[Points are awarded when you level up. Each point can be used to make five Enhancement Capsules.]
[All skill levels increase in tandem with the Meister's level.]
[The Enhancement Addiction skill can make enhancement bodies addicted to capsules. The higher the level, the stronger the addiction. Enhancement bodies addicted to capsules become absolutely loyal to the Meister.]
[There is a compatibility factor between ordinary people and Enhancement Capsules. If a person incompatible with a capsule swallows one, their body will explode as a side effect.]
[It is possible to swallow multiple Enhancement Capsules, but the more you consume, the higher the chance of side effects.]
[The Meister himself can also swallow Enhancement Capsules. Be warned that consuming too many Enhancement Capsules may cause side effects in the Meister as well.]
He did not fully understand all the explanations, but the Physical Enhancement skill in particular caught his eye. He thought it might be the power for revenge he had begged a demon for so desperately moments ago.
'It said I could create something called an Enhancement Capsule by using points. If that's really power, then the demon granted my wish.'
He was on the verge of death, so there was no reason not to use it. When he mentally declared that he wanted to use his points, a capsule meant to be taken like a pill appeared in the air.
He barely managed to open his mouth and swallow the capsule. The translucent capsule slid down his throat. It had a strange taste that he doubted he could ever get used to, no matter how many he ate.
'Keo-eok—!!'
Udeuk, udeudeuk!
Accompanied by grotesque popping noises, his shoulders and legs, which had been bent every which way, snapped back into place. The muscles that had burst and been torn apart knitted together and fused into a firm whole.
His jawbone realigned, and all the blood pooled in his mouth vanished. Uncontrollable strength surged through his entire body.
He braced himself against the floor and slowly rose. His body felt so light that there was no trace of the beating the gangsters had given him.
'It was real. I wasn't seeing things!'
Perhaps thanks to his extremely sharpened senses, he could hear not only the two classmates snickering at the door, but even the unpleasant breathing coming from the classroom across the hall.
'With this ability....'
He did not know whether it was a god or a demon, but whoever it was had sent him a status window and granted his wish. It took little time for despair to turn into murderous intent. Specifically, murderous intent toward the gangsters who had defiled the woman he loved.
'Those bastards first.'
The two classmates, completely unaware of what had happened behind them, continued trading crude jokes by the door.
Han Gijin slowly walked toward them.
*****
The reason Jiyoung's satisfaction had risen slowly at first was that she had simply been swept along by his aggressive advances during sex.
Once she relaxed and gained a certain amount of initiative, her satisfaction rose dramatically, and it was common for her level to increase overnight.
Her submissive tendency—the desire to be dominated—also had a considerable impact on her satisfaction.
"Now you can barely see the injuries. They really healed completely in just three days!"
They had gone at it so much in the meantime that Jiyoung recovered far faster than the system had said she would. The pain had not vanished completely, but at least, to the naked eye, the bruised areas looked fine.
"Sounds like you're asking to do it again?"
"Hehe, I think I'll be able to sleep soundly if we do it one more time. This time, with me pinned underneath Master-nim."
She had worked her hips hard on top until just moments ago, so she was asking him to press her down before bed.
A request like that was always welcome. If only to confirm that his arm was truly fine, he planned to pin her down in a difficult position.
