Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: However, I Refuse
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However, we decline.
The reason we spared the humans we were wary of was simple.
We weren't sure of the survivor faction's size.
Injuries could somehow be overlooked, but killing was a different story.
If their force turned out large, it could get troublesome.
So we'd kept them alive on purpose—
"This place is in pretty bad shape too."
Lee Yoo-ri muttered as we walked side by side down the street.
Various people sat along the street.
Men, women, grandmothers, even young children.
They eyed us outsiders with wary glances.
All of them looked utterly lifeless.
Like dying people.
'Well, it's an apocalyptic world, so that's expected.'
They too must have survived the zombie outbreak, human hunts, and the fog.
All of them murderers who had overcome brushes with death.
But they looked incredibly frail for people like that.
"They're probably folks who survived by luck without fighting directly."
"All of them?"
"Far fewer people fight actively than you'd think. Most just dodge harm and scrape by somehow."
"Hmm."
This zone had a ruler, as we'd heard.
All these people followed his orders.
They couldn't even leave the safe zone because of the fog.
'Then how do they handle food?'
We managed fine as a small group.
But with more people, even food became a major issue.
Most were probably starving.
Did that guy manage the food too?
'Depending on others for force and food. Just trembling in fear to survive.'
Honestly, they didn't seem long for this world.
Especially not in an apocalypse.
"Th-this is where Min-su hyung is."
The man guiding us said.
We'd arrived at a relatively intact building.
"Then I'll go ahead and announce you, so wait here for a bit..."
"No, we'll come with you."
"Huh? But showing up out of nowhere like that..."
"We didn't do anything wrong. In this mess, do we really need to sweat the details?"
He bowed his head quick when I narrowed my eyes.
He'd been like that ever since I took down the spear guy.
Typical type: tough on the weak, meek to the strong.
Maybe that's how he'd survived this long.
"Th-then follow me."
A gang of thugs soon appeared.
Each clutching a weapon in one hand.
The guide bowed to the man in the center.
"Min-su hyung! Guests are here!"
"Guests?"
The man looked up at us.
He paused a moment, then flashed a friendly smile.
"Wow~ New survivors! Must've been rough getting here!"
Surprisingly welcoming vibe.
The man slowly rose from his seat.
"But how'd you make it here? Fog's sealed everything around—no way through."
"Just got lucky."
"Haha... Luck, huh? You're right! Luck's everything in this world! Name's Kim Min-su."
"Lee Ji-hoon."
Kim Min-su stepped forward and extended his hand.
I shook it as our rep.
'Hm? The grip.'
His hand clamped down harder than necessary.
Testing me?
I eased some strength into my grip.
His eyes narrowed sharply.
"Ugh! Haha, guess luck alone didn't get you here."
"Fought plenty of zombies."
"Haha... Looks like we've got some reliable folks."
Kim Min-su shook out his hand.
Clear regret for picking the fight.
Then the guide glanced at us slyly before whispering to Kim Min-su.
"Oh! You took down our Young-chul?"
"Little misunderstanding on the way."
"Ah, no worries. Totally get it in this situation."
Kim Min-su gestured toward the table with sofas as he spoke.
"If you're up for it, let's chat a bit."
His thugs eyed us and filed out wordlessly at his signal.
"Uh, the ladies over there?"
"My comrades."
Kim Min-su blinked at the two of them.
"Whatever it is, no issue if they listen in, right?"
"Of course."
We sat side by side on the sofas.
A woman soon came in, set canned beers and coffee in front of us, and left.
"You've had it rough—throat parched? Beer at least?"
"No thanks."
I ignored the coffee too.
Who knew what they'd spiked it with.
"Alright then. Guess I should start with the situation here."
Kim Min-su took a swig from his canned beer and began.
"First off, this place is locked down tight by my crew."
"What do you mean?"
"Simple—we're providing protection."
Protection.
But the survivors hardly looked protected.
"Zombies everywhere by now, right? Society and law enforcement collapsed. What's the most vital thing in this mess?"
I gave no answer.
Kim Min-su pressed on regardless.
"Power. And power comes from group size. That's why we're gathering folks in this safe zone."
"How many?"
"Just over a hundred here right now."
Not huge, but not insignificant either.
Lots died to zombies and human hunts.
"But crowds mean chaos and squabbles. So I'm handling survivor management as leader."
"Management?"
"Nothing fancy. Distribute food, send scouting parties into the fog now and then."
I glanced down at the beer and coffee.
Hard to imagine fair distribution looking at this.
"With that in mind, here's my proposal."
Like this was finally the point.
The man spoke with clasped hands.
"Join our group."
A message popped up before my eyes right then.
Mental ability like Han So-young's.
'Not ruling by brute force alone, then.'
Traits and skills were crucial in this world—no need to explain.
This guy probably leveraged them well to survive till now.
Pointless against me, though.
"Why the sudden offer?"
"Like I said, groups need power. Individual strength matters most right now."
"Overestimating me just for dropping one of your men."
"Not just that."
Kim Min-su shook his head side to side.
"Above all, you have proven achievements."
Achievements?
"No one's survived in that fog till now. Sure, we're gathering survivors, but they're all lucky stragglers who fled here."
Makes sense why it's a ragtag bunch.
"Even our scouting parties into the fog have low survival rates. Weak ones mostly don't return."
"......"
"You're the first to break through that fog. That alone makes you a symbol for the others."
Sounded exactly like using me as a figurehead.
"Not a bad deal for you. We promise commensurate status."
"Status?"
He grinned like I'd bitten the bait at my question.
"As I said, we handle food distribution. Snacks go for about 10 coins a pack."
Insanely high prices.
10 coins per zombie kill.
And this was a safe zone.
To earn coins, you'd have to venture into the fog.
"But fairness demands rewards for heavy fighters. So we provide them free food."
Those 'fighters' were probably his underlings.
The barricade guys too.
'Whether they actually planned to fight... who knows.'
This was a proper 'safe zone.'
Staying here meant no monster attacks.
Using that as an excuse for free food?
Just a scam dressed as protection.
Probably a ploy to control people.
Claim you're shielding them from monsters,
monopolizing food gets justified.
'Of course they'd sense something fishy. But survivors lack the power to call it out.'
Clear gap between his force and the rest.
Crush with strength, and they're helpless.
Sure, more numbers on their side.
But numbers only work with unity.
His 'Negotiation' skill probably helped a lot there.
"So all the safe zone's food is managed here?"
"At least everything inside—we hold it all. Want more? Head out into the fog."
Dictator monopolizing force, skills, food, and sentiment.
Right or wrong,
he was clearly this place's ruler.
"So, what do you say? Join us?"
At least the guy in front of me wasn't an idiot.
Seizing power in this chaos wasn't easy.
Yet in our brief encounter, he'd sized up the situation
and made this recruitment pitch.
"Free food does sound great for us."
"Oh, then..."
"But we refuse."
"Hmm."
He didn't show outright displeasure at my answer.
Just a mildly disappointed, nonchalant look.
"Issue with our methods? Hoarding food and selling for coins?"
"No, I don't like it, but I won't deny your way outright."
"Then why?"
Of course Kim Min-su's crew weren't good people.
But even without them, someone else would've pulled the same stunt.
Human politics always work like that.
My refusal stemmed from a more fundamental reason.
"We don't need you."
"......"
Serve under some useless punk?
Not me, and readers watching would choke on frustration.
Am I crazy?
'Negotiation's for those who actually have something to offer.'