Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: 11. The Results of Roaming and Killing (1)
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Every three or four houses—or four or five—one would let out a growl.
With the occasional low rumble echoing faintly, I made my way back to the boarding house through the quiet alley.
I've gotta do something about those bodies in front of the supermarket...
...But it's too much of a hassle for me.
I pushed open the front gate, and the courtyard lay empty and still.
Where's Su-hyun? Is she home?
Something chattered from upstairs.
A rhythmic thumping, too.
...Sounds like it's coming from the rooftop room area?
What are they doing near my room?
I'll drop off the diapers and head up.
Knock knock.
I rapped on the newlywed wife's door, and soon enough, footsteps approached.
The door swung open, and out stepped the young wife cradling her baby.
"Oh... hello."
"Here you go."
I thrust the diapers forward.
She blinked in surprise before taking them, her face brightening just a touch.
"Thank you so much."
"No problem. Your husband's not around?"
"Oh, yeah. He said there was no shampoo..."
"Got it. Tell him not to wander off when he gets back—stay put."
I passed on the message and headed up to the rooftop.
Peeking through the gap in the door, I caught sight of their place—pretty stocked up. Makeshift shelves with clothes hanging, baby toys, snacks, chocolate, instant ramen piles. Wonder where he scavenged all that.
The burly ajusshi must be working his ass off.
Come to think of it, breakfast this morning was pretty decent.
He's probably hauling stuff back for the main house too.
Up on the rooftop, three women crouched together.
Wood scattered across the clothesline-draped floor...
Looked like disassembled furniture?
"Oh, oppa."
Su-hyun spotted me and waved.
Ye-eun and So-eun turned, giving polite little bows.
They'd seen me so much now that bloodstains on my clothes barely fazed them anymore.
I nodded back and asked,
"Hey. What's all this?"
"Sealing up the windows on your rooftop room. Ye-eun and So-eun are helping me out. This is the wardrobe from So-eun's room."
"Cool."
Ye-eun and So-eun watched me, their faces surprisingly bright.
No trace of those haunted looks from the convenience store.
A few stable days had done wonders. They were even venturing outside without hesitation.
"You got back early, oppa? Everything done?"
Su-hyun grunted as she stood, dusting off.
I shrugged.
"Cleared out the mart."
"Already?"
"Yeah. Gonna rest up, then tidy the hardware store area. After that, sweep the big supermarket clean."
Aaaargh—
A scream pierced the distance.
Ye-eun and So-eun whipped around, faces tense.
Su-hyun, though, didn't bat an eye.
"Whoa... You roam around all that alone and aren't scared?"
"Scared of what?"
I chuckled and headed into the rooftop room.
"Gonna crash for a bit."
"Okay, I'll call you for lunch. Ye-eun unnie's making chicken curry today."
Ooh, curry sounds good.
I nodded at Ye-eun and slipped inside.
Showered off the blood caking my body, then flopped onto my bedding.
Five accelerations left.
But my strength was lagging.
Right now, Su-hyun was the most useful in this house. After her, the burly ajusshi.
That big guy's been diligently playing pack mule, filling the place up. Good call bringing him along.
Otherwise, I'd be lugging everything myself.
Su-hyun goes without saying.
The house was damn near airtight now.
Day by day, it was turning into a fortress.
With Ye-eun and So-eun pitching in too, I could just hand it all off.
My job? Level up.
Grind levels fast and get stronger.
That's priority one.
Along the way, I could clear paths so Su-hyun works easy and ajusshi hauls without worry.
To secure the hardware store, I'd need to wipe out the salon and McDonald's next door completely.
McDonald's by end of today.
Big supermarket raid starting tomorrow.
Lying there, a thought bubbled up.
How long can I keep leveling?
What's the max level?
What do the other stats even do?
Each must have its purpose.
How strong can I get?
Mulling that over, my strength ticked up to 8.
Hm, not bad.
Enough for the salon...
I started to rise—just then, a knock.
Opened the door to the burly ajusshi.
He'd been hustling since morning; sweat beaded his forehead.
"S-Sir. I saw you brought diapers. Thank you. Really, thank you, sir."
Hmm.
He looked thrilled.
Ajusshi continued,
"You were looking for me, sir?"
"Oh, yeah."
I was about to speak, then glanced sideways.
The three women clattered hammers, chattering away.
...Hmm...
"Hold on."
I beckoned ajusshi over, then approached the women.
"Girls."
They turned to me.
I said,
"Let's hit the mart."
They exchanged puzzled looks.
Ye-eun ventured hesitantly,
"...C-Can we... go out...?"
"It's fine. Killed 'em all. Someone's even cleaning up the bodies."
Su-hyun's eyes widened.
"Bodies? Who?"
I shrugged.
"Dunno. Inline skating club or whatever. Six of 'em. Asked if they could take some from the mart, said sure. They're handling the corpses."
The women stared at each other, speechless.
I smirked.
"Don't worry. Streets are safe. You gonna let others snatch it all? Up you go."
I headed down the stairs; they scrambled up and followed.
Ye-eun and So-eun popped into the main house, calling for Grandmother.
Probably telling her they'd be right back.
"No worries. Be quick."
Waiting in the lower courtyard, I saw Ye-eun and So-eun emerge.
The burly ajusshi eyed them anxiously.
"Th-The house... it'll be safe, right...?"
Su-hyun smacked his back.
"Can't you tell from those sealed windows? No one gets in unless we let 'em. It's locked tight."
"Oh, right."
Ajusshi still fretted, cracking his door to peek in.
"Honey, I'm heading out a bit. Don't open for anyone but me, got it?"
A bright "Okay, hurry back!" echoed from inside.
Her voice had real pep now.
Compared to a few days ago, night and day.
"Let's move."
Leading the group down the alley, four old punk-ass bastards lay sprawled in the street behind us.
"...Urp."
So-eun clamped her mouth.
Su-hyun piped up.
"Ah, so that's the smell. Thought someone shit nearby."
I snorted at the punk corpses.
"Just idiots. Ignore 'em."
"...Urp."
So-eun looked ready to hurl.
The burly ajusshi scratched his head.
"I-I'll clear these out of sight later."
...Huh.
Appreciate that.
Liked the sound of it—I clapped his shoulder once and rounded the corner to the mart.
Five minutes in, the parking lot appeared.
Then, the whir of inline skates—kurr-kurr—and murmurs of voices.
Veering toward the squid stall, six folks sat slumped on the ground.
Empty drink cans, energy bar wrappers littered beside them.
The entrance, once vomiting corpses, was cleared.
These guys did it.
Worked hard, now resting, I figured.
The ponytail woman spotted us and stood.
She was drenched in sweat too.
"Ah, you're here. All of you?"
I nodded, peering past the automatic doors.
Still a dozen-plus bodies inside, but the entrance was mostly done.
"You cleared a ton. Must've been heavy."
50kg, 60kg, 70-80kg hauls.
Even with six, exhaustion made sense.
"Yeah, just taking a breather. These folks...?"
I gestured back.
"With us. Survivors."
Su-hyun strode forward with a bold grin.
"Hi! I'm An Su-hyun. You're the inline club, right? Heard so much about you."
Heard a ton, my ass.
I smirked.
Su-hyun was like this even when we first met—total people person.
Hard to believe she was a shut-in.
Must've loved games that much.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Eun-seo. Jeong Eun-seo."
As the women shook hands, the burly ajusshi eyed the entrance.
"Y-You all cleared the bodies...? I'll help too."
The inline crew laughed warmly.
"Aw, thanks. We're resting now—join us after."
...Hmm...
First time meeting other survivors, yet this instant camaraderie.
As long as they weren't like those geriatric forty-fifty punk shits stirring crap, it was natural—survivors spotting survivors, all smiles.
"Grab what you need and head back the way you came. Nowhere else."
Turning to go, Su-hyun grabbed my hand.
"Oppa, where?"
"Kill everything by the hardware store. So you can grab what you need safely."
Truth? Level grinding.
Accelerations nearly recharged to six.
The ponytail Jeong Eun-seo spoke up.
"You did that this morning and going again? Wow... What's your name?"
Su-hyun glanced at me, then beamed at her.
"My oppa's Han Seong-hun."
"Ah, Seong-hun-ssi. What do you do? One sword, taking out this many... And off to another spot..."
The burly ajusshi straightened proudly.
"S-Seong-hun-ssi helped us too. Amazing guy. For real."
......Ugh, embarrassing.
Listening in felt awkward.
"That swordmaster thing wasn't a joke? You trained with swords and stuff, right?"
Jeong Eun-seo asked.
Man...
Tough to answer.
Can't exactly say I zip around super fast with skills...
I shrugged.
"Heading out. See ya."
"Ah, Seong-hun-ssi."
As I turned, Jeong Eun-seo called.
What now?