Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Wind and Sun
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Today, just like always, people had gathered from the crack of dawn, looking for work.
Jang Ho-seop climbed up onto a small pedestal and spoke.
"Today's rations are going to be smaller than yesterday's."
The crowd stirred uneasily.
"There was a little incident yesterday. Turns out a few people got caught sneaking extra food!"
Some of my group were eating their breakfast nearby.
The portions were generous.
The people lined up watched them eat with envious eyes.
"Hey! What do those guys have to do with our rations? Couldn't you find the thieves?"
A woman raised the question.
Jang Ho-seop answered with a smile.
"It hurt our hearts. Do you know how many people we have? Over a hundred."
Jang Ho-seop rattled off the speech he'd prepared in advance.
Something about how hard it was to keep things under control.
And how we had no real regrets about it.
So he wasn't actually answering the woman's question.
He was just saying what he wanted to say.
"Honestly, we've even thought about quitting this whole thing altogether. Why bother making our heads hurt over all this..."
Still, no one pushed back.
Because Jang Ho-seop had wiped the smile off his face and was making it clear he was pissed.
"You asked what the thieves have to do with your pay getting cut, right?"
"Yes? Oh... yeah."
Finally, he got to the point.
The bold woman who had spoken up glanced around nervously before answering.
"Aren't you all family from Myeongsin Women's University?"
"Huh? What do you...?"
"That's what I thought. Man, do you know how much those people grilled our staff yesterday?"
There had been people like that.
People demanding to be grouped with their department friends.
People offering to work for their juniors' shares if they got the rewards split.
People saying they had weak stomachs and couldn't handle the dirty jobs.
In short, people spilling their personal sob stories.
'Couldn't believe it...'
When I saw their attitudes, I thought I was living in a different world from them.
"They were so close-knit. So shouldn't we all share the responsibility?"
In reality, though, far more people had quietly followed the rules.
Jang Ho-seop was exaggerating the cases of a few to make his point.
"Ah, come on. Who even said crap like that...?"
"We're all strangers to them anyway!"
"Was it those folks who came in a group from the student center...?"
He was doing it on purpose.
To shatter their invisible bonds of solidarity.
Some groups really did seem tight-knit.
Collective responsibility did that.
It made them watch each other and worry about others' eyes on them.
"And do you know what their logic was?"
Jang Ho-seop moved to the next phase.
"One person said their pay was too low compared to the work they did. So they were just taking their fair share."
This was all groundwork to tame them.
"Another one bragged about how elite they were..."
He'd lay the bait like this and watch their reactions.
"Everyone, more people showed up today than yesterday. And supplies are limited."
Even at a glance, more people had come today than before.
Those who'd been watching from hiding had come out.
We didn't have the spare capacity to take care of everyone.
Nor the will.
"If you don't like our way of doing things, feel free to leave. We won't stop you."
So he'd throw that out and see.
Some would accept it and work within the rules.
Others would reject his words and try to break the rules.
I'd check their reactions and only accept those who suited me.
"If you get it, we'll start morning rations now. Ends up saying the same thing as yesterday. Please follow our control properly."
I wasn't sure if the message we'd sent had gotten through.
Some seemed to understand; others looked confused.
'It's actually simple...'
Figure it out yourselves.
That was the message I wanted to send.
Two more days passed.
In that time, Myeongsin Women's University's survivors had changed a lot.
Many people worked harder than before.
They tried to show off their abilities, and those who did got bigger rewards.
"Hyung-nim. I brought it here."
"Yeah. All sorted?"
Night had fallen.
I was talking alone with Jang Ho-seop.
"Yes. I made a full personnel record too. This is our internal shortlist."
Jang Ho-seop handed over a thick binder.
My group had arbitrarily picked out people who could help the community.
"I'll check the others' tomorrow too. What's the Awakener ratio?"
"Close to 30 percent. Turns out a lot of them haven't killed even a single monster."
Jang Ho-seop gave numbers similar to what I'd guessed with Target Detection.
A 30 percent Fundamental Skill Awakener rate was incredibly high given the situation here.
Myeongsin Women's survivors hadn't lived by fighting monsters—they'd hidden from Big Ma herds.
"Probably because more non-Awakeners died, pushing the ratio up."
"Yeah... Oh, how about the Building 1 dorm students?"
Surprisingly, there were still consistent thieves.
Even after the separate warnings.
Of course, we killed them all.
The Building 1 dorm students were involved in their deaths.
We handled it like we did with the village residents.
We saw their resolve, then I took their lives at the end for the experience.
"They're good. They're participating diligently even in training sessions."
"What about the survivors we promoted to interns?"
"Them too. They'd pass any test anytime."
Some Myeongsin Women's survivors had moved to Building 1.
We called them interns.
Ki Eun-chae, the cadets, and the other Building 1 students were interns too.
"You tested all their skills, right?"
"Yep. Of course."
Just becoming an intern raised their living standard dramatically.
From barely scraping by to eating their fill.
There were various criteria for selecting interns.
The biggest was catching my group's eye.
Some were just hardworking; others had good skills.
Special cases included those who reported corruption among fellow survivors.
Their common point: they'd done their best within my rules.
"And hyung-nim, we should pick some staff for your secretaries and Chairman Park's managers."
We were gradually forming a company structure.
No official name or positions yet.
Currently, my secretaries included Bom noona and Seol-hee-ssi.
Secretary was just a word for people who stayed physically close to me.
"Handle Chairman Park's managers yourself. Oh, not anyone too competent. Just someone adequate."
"Got it. For your secretary... women are more comfortable, right?"
I pondered for a moment.
This was about picking someone to live in my house and also babysit Seol-hee-ssi’s kid.
"Have Seol-hee-ssi narrow it down. I'll check the candidates."
"Yes, sir."
Jang Ho-seop nodded.
We moved to the next topic.
Still a lot to discuss.
"The trading post opens tomorrow."
"Yeah. All set?"
"Yes."
"Good. After training, I'll distribute Mana Stones."
The trading post was a window for people to buy goods.
We needed something instead of money, so we decided on Big Ma Mana Stones for now.
Big Ma stones were small, plentiful, uniform in size.
My group would hand them out like bonuses.
People could buy what they wanted at the post.
"Trading post hours... stick to evenings as planned?"
"Yeah."
My group had too much on their plates.
So we were offloading the haphazard supply distribution to the trading post.
"Um... hyung-nim. That Bae Bong-sik guy..."
We finished a few more topics.
Then Jang Ho-seop hesitantly brought up the last item.
"I said it's fine."
"Oh... I see."
One student had seduced Bae Bong-sik-ssi with her body.
The confirmed bachelor Bae Bong-sik fell for it and gave her food and some items.
"But what do we tell the others...?"
Bae Bong-sik had come to me first and confessed.
He knelt, kept apologizing, so I gave him some advice.
'It's fine to share your personal supplies, Bae Bong-sik-ssi. Just don't neglect your duties over a woman.'
He promised a few things and left.
With even greater respect for me.
I told Jang Ho-seop about the promises.
"Relationships have upsides and downsides. Not something to decide right now."
"Yes. True... especially with the situation."
"Say sponsor relationships are okay. Regardless of gender, always exchange fair value. Oh, master-servant couples are exceptions."
We'd put off firm decisions on relationships.
Especially regarding love.
"Manage condoms carefully. Condoms are now a key supply item. No-condom sex means instant exile—no warning. Make sure that's spread."
"Yes, no-condom no-sex... And?"
"STD checks. You do them personally. Some might know their own history. Use Seol-hee-ssi's skill, and that med school prof..."
As our faction grew, more things needed attention.
"Especially if relationships make anyone slack on duties—you know what to do? Tighten the leash. Don't forget differential treatment for village residents based on performance."
My group was managing well so far, but we needed a more systematic system.
And divide up the work.
"Yes. I'll keep it in mind always."
Jang Ho-seop nodded solemnly.
This wasn't just for his ears.
Jang Ho-seop might fool around, but no one was more diligent than him.
His loyalty to me was the same as ever.
Especially after his mistake last time—he was leading by example, even skimping on sleep.
"Oh, what about you? No girl you like?"
Still, I worried a bit about women.
Men were men, after all.
Jang Ho-seop must have had temptations too.
"Huh? Oh, me. Yeah. Not yet."
"Really?"
Jang Ho-seop chose his words carefully.
Then answered with a shy look.
"I'm not really into that kind of relationship."
"I said it's fine. You can take it easy."
The world wasn't the same anymore.
And sex was a great stress reliever.
No fun games or anything.
"Still. I... prefer solo..."
"Solo? What's that?"
"Ah... hyung-nim."
"Yeah."
Why was he dragging it out like this?
"I want pure love."
Maybe because I'd been strict about relationships.
Jang Ho-seop finally answered.
I just nodded.
While Yi Hyun and Jang Ho-seop discussed work even at night.
A secretive meeting was underway in Twin Dorm Building 2.
A few women had gathered in a dark room lit by a single candle.
Ramen wrappers and snack bags littered the floor.
"Those bitches are traitors. We need to stick together more now and speak with one voice."
The woman with especially short hair spoke up.
It was the bob-cut girl who'd argued with Jang Ho-seop.
She wore broken glasses.
Short but sturdy build.
Despite tight food rations, she kept her padding.
"What'd you find out?"
"Um... not sure~ Just heard they got exiled."
The bob-cut girl asked the small, skinny woman.
The responder was tiny even for a woman.
"What about the injustices inside? They have women too... sexual exploitation or whatever."
"I didn't see any~"
"What about Building 1 girls? Them with the guys over there..."
The bob-cut girl grilled the tiny woman relentlessly.
But no clear answers came.
"Come on, you! What did you see or hear while working?"
"Ah! You scared me. Why yell all of a sudden?"
The bob-cut girl took a deep breath.
"Anything... just tell us what you felt."
"Ahang! Um... Yi Hyun-nim's handsome. Hehe."
"You crazy..."
The bob-cut girl pounded her chest.
As she thrashed, an unpleasant smell spread.
The tiny woman cautiously pinched her nose.
"Hoo... anyway, it's obvious. We have proof. Wage gaps. Women get paid less than men even for the same work."
The bob-cut girl started making baseless claims to the women in the room.
"Heard some art major slut spread her legs for food today?"
"Yeah, people saw it."
"Fucking cheap whores trading for scraps... Honestly, without those guys, we could've gotten plenty ourselves."
The bob-cut girl trashed Yi Hyun's group relentlessly.
Especially Jang Ho-seop.
"That short asshole. Bet he resents women. Probably packing peanuts too."
She was weirdly hostile toward men.
"Probably shaking his hips like a monkey right now."
She didn't hesitate on sexual insults.
"Everyone remember. If we don't snap out of it, we're next. Why else would they hole up in a women's college?"
Raw, explicit stories poured from the bob-cut girl's mouth.
Summary: Yi Hyun's group was raping and exploiting women.
"Men are all goats with shriveled balls. Saw them flaunting meat? Sneaky bastards hogging food..."
Anger.
The emotion dominating the bob-cut girl.
She'd been nursing it in her chest for days.
"From tomorrow, talk to more people. Lots of malcontents out there."
The bob-cut girl gave orders to the women.
"We need to reclaim our rights."
She clenched her fist like some revolutionary.
"Think they can handle us united?"
Her fists were pudgy.
"I'll lead. Show them we won't live like slaves."
She raised her voice higher.
Why make only us do the gross, dirty jobs.
Why their men just stand in the shade watching us.
Why stir fights among students to make us envy each other.
"Spread this. And that we need to act. This land isn't theirs."
The bob-cut girl herself had never gone out to work once.
A week since exterminating the Big Ma herd.
I woke early again today.
Cleanup around Myeongsin Women's main gate was done.
Since yesterday, we'd pushed into the neighborhood beyond Independence Hall.
Monsters there let us feed experience to interns.
We Awakened quite a few too.
"Hyung-nim!"
As I stretched, Jang Ho-seop's urgent voice came from outside.
He asked if I was up at the door.
"Sorry. Emergency."
"Yeah. Coming out."
I wiped the sleep from my eyes, threw on clothes hastily, and went out.
"What's up?"
"Well... the people..."
Jang Ho-seop led me outside the building.
Then dropped an unfamiliar word.
"They've revolted."
We exited Building 1.
As usual, people crowded outside the safety fence.
"Guarantee our just rights!"
"Guarantee them!"
No.
It wasn't the usual.