Poetic Justice (1)

April 15th.

▲▲ University Men's Dormitory.

"So that's how you're gonna play it…?"

From the third ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠floor of the men's dormitory, Kim Suhyeok ground his teeth as he stared down below.

That hot black-haired woman with the glasses.

Her way of talking had seemed almost excessively kind, and yet he never imagined she'd wipe her mouth clean and stab him in the back in a single day.

It wasn't as if Suhyeok himself had wanted some mutually supportive relationship. He'd figured they'd keep up the friendly act for a day or two, then gradually put some distance between them…

"Where the hell are they, Youngsu?"

"R-right now it looks like they're done and everyone's heading back. And yeah, the place is definitely that villa."

"Hah…!"

Youngsu looked like he had more to say — and his voice was thick with genuine dread.

"S-Suhyeok… let's think this through again. I watched those bitches and that guy hunting from a distance… fuck, we don't stand a chance! Especially with Sora thrown in… at least three, four of them are the real deal!"

"You said most of them are mages or blacksmiths anyway! And even the mages are mostly alchemists and illusionists! Level gaps don't mean shit at our tier, you idiot! At our levels, stats and abilities are basically the same!"

"Y-yeah, but…"

"Cough it up. You done?"

He dismissed Youngsu's concerns outright — but it wasn't as if Suhyeok felt no unease of his own.

Their side's combat strength was considerable, the only real weakness being how few of them there were. Especially that man glued to the glasses woman's side — a full head shorter than Suhyeok himself — who Youngsu swore looked like a Warrior class and was absurdly strong. On top of that, the glasses woman he'd met yesterday was a rare Cleric, and there was also some athletic girl with a Warrior class among them.

More than anything, the fact that Sora was far stronger than expected grated on him hard.

That fucking bitch. He'd helped her out, and instead of showing any gratitude she'd taken a leave of absence and run off like some worthless dog… a girl who should have been moaning under him… and now she was freeloading off some other guy, getting stronger, and acting like she owned the place!

Kim Suhyeok himself never realized it. Every time Han Sora crossed his mind, his reason buckled and his emotions flared out of control.

If he somehow survived the rest of his life, he would probably never realize it.

"You briefed the others? Tell them to keep watching. Fuck…!"

Seething, Kim Suhyeok fixed a rage-filled glare on Haengbok Villa.

And he started turning things over in his head. How could he properly shake those people up?

Their combat power was definitely strong — but the fact that it was limited to such a small number of people felt like something he could exploit. For instance, by driving a wedge between the other survivors and that handful of powerhouses.

Kim Suhyeok clutched his head and fretted, until at last a staggering realization hit him. The kind of epiphany that made you slap your own knee.

"Hah, fuck… how did I forget about this?"

It wasn't just them and us living as survivors in this clean zone, was it? No — there had to be way more people out ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠there.

In that case…!

A cruel plan to turn goodwill against its owners began to writhe to life inside Kim Suhyeok's mind.

April 15th.

The results of the hunt had been phenomenal.

"Th-the exp is… insane!"

"We might actually be pretty strong…?"

"Hey! Don't go planting death flags! You're a Blacksmith, for crying out loud…"

The combat strength of Haengbok Villa's survivors had improved so dramatically that the other survivors were cheering and gasping in open admiration.

In a single day they had wiped out 250 zombies, 120 skeletons, plus 30 goblins and 10 orcs dumb enough to aggro onto them. It far surpassed everything they had accomplished over the previous two days combined.

Even more astonishing was the performance of the Han Sora–Park Seeun duo. Between the two of them alone they had cleared 100 zombies and taken down another 50 skeletons. Park Seeun would draw aggro, close in to batter them whenever she found an opening, and Han Sora would finish them off with Multi-Shot — rinse and repeat until monster corpses piled high.

Of course, the most impressive part of all was how the survivors who had leveled up and grown were now putting their class advantages to skilled use in combat. They were still raw, but they were getting there.

In particular, the Explosive Potion that the Alchemist among the Mage classes had learned as a first-tier skill… its power left every last one of us slack-jawed.

BOOM!

"Kyaaah!"

"Holy crap! That was loud as hell!"

"W-woooow…"

"That was almost like a… an I… IE… what was it called again?"

"IED? Improvised explosive device? A homemade bomb?"

"Yes, that! It had enough force to rival one of those. Good heavens…!"

I'd written the Alchemist off as a non-combat class, figuring they'd mostly just brew healing potions… and my prediction had been completely wrong. An Alchemist who'd hit level 10 could produce Explosive Potions with devastating destructive power. Of course, there were drawbacks.

"This is a problem. The materials for these things are… well, I managed to make that first batch somehow, but…"

"What's wrong?"

"Ah, Seyeon unnie! The Explosive Potions. For the first one, the system just let me craft it as a commemorative freebie — but from now on I have to gather the materials myself."

"O-oh no…"

Having to personally gather materials just to craft anything. It was a surprisingly hands-on class. Still, a damage dealer this powerful was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠irreplaceable in our current situation.

"Ah, th-that… once we establish a territory and build a forge and a research lab… you can dismantle all kinds of items there and get materials that way. It'll be way more efficient for mass production than foraging."

"My goodness, really?"

"That's our Sora! You really do know this game inside and out!"

"Eh-ehehe…"

As people praised her advice, Sora scratched her cheek with a shy little smile.

Where before she'd mostly only talked with me, Seyeon, and Seeun, she could now chat freely with the other survivors without any awkwardness.

…Don't tell me sleeping with me caused some kind of personality shift? Nah. No way.

At any rate, having posted results far more encouraging than the previous two days, we headed home.

Naturally, neither I nor the other survivors wanted to let a landmark day like this simply pass by.

"To our outstanding growth… cheers!"

"Cheers!"

"Cheeeers!"

The clink of beer cans and soju glasses rang out all across the rooftop. Just like the night before training had begun, we threw a party up on the roof.

This time, though, we went at it more seriously than that modest first gathering.

We'd brought plenty of alcohol and hauled in only the good stuff for snacks from convenience stores and department stores. In particular, digging through a department store interior had turned up premium canned hams that put ordinary spam to shame. We trimmed what edible vegetables we still had — potatoes, onions, and the like — skewered them with the ham, and grilled everything until it sizzled. A proper barbecue party, in other words.

And unlike the first night, nearly everyone was reaching for a drink today. It looked exactly like a crew of industrial workers knocking back drinks with their colleagues after a hard day's labor.

On top of that, having just posted such encouraging results, everyone's faces were bright.

"Jeong Hoon-ssiiii~"

Seo Hyejin, currently sidling up to me in a voice dripping with aegyo, was no exception.

"Why are you off drinking all by yourself again?"

"…By myself?"

At that, I carefully shifted my gaze to the right.

"I-I'm not alone, okay…!?"

Ah. Relief.

Just as she had been the moment we got back, Han Sora had her arm tangled through my right arm and was clinging so tightly she refused to let go. It was as if she were trying to leave her mark on my arm. She wasn't some animal marking territory, for crying out loud.

"You two are basically one body at this point, so I just slipped and called you alone. Sorry about that, Miss Sora? Actually, we're not that far apart in age, so I'll just call you Sora. That okay, Sora?"

"Urghk…!"

Sora made a sound of pure indignation, like some anime or manga character. For the record, Seo Hyejin was twenty-four — solidly older than Sora.

"Heeheehee… but she did say we're one body… eheheh…"

All of a sudden Sora went slack-faced and started mumbling happily beside ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me.

Your mood swings are way too fast. They say love makes fools of people, but you've already turned into an idiot just from getting together with me, Sora?

"Anyway… what kind of worries are you nursing today, Jeong Hoon-ssi?"

Seo Hyejin started to sit on my left, then glanced at Sora for a moment and settled on the right instead — which is to say, on Sora's right.

Sora looked relieved by Seo Hyejin's consideration… and then latched onto my arm like a sloth. The sensation was killer, but…

"Ease up a little, Sora."

"Yeees, oppa."

Looking slightly dejected at my words, Sora peeled herself off my arm.

With my newly freed hand I reached to stroke the top of her head… then thought better of it and patted her on the back instead (Seo Hyejin being right there made me self-conscious). Even that earned a happy little heehee… from Sora.

"You two are just dripping with affection. Had a fun night last night, did we?"

"…I shall offer no comment."

"Oh my? Oh my, oh my. To think you'd get embarrassed over something like this! Now that's a surprise!"

Sora was half out of her mind, and her words left me suddenly so flustered I had no choice but to turn my head the other way for a moment. Seo Hyejin kept her voice bright and thoroughly delighted throughout.

I could tell her voice was trembling, just the slightest bit — but for now it was better to pretend I hadn't noticed and change the subject.

"I was reviewing today's results."

"Oh? Results?"

"Indeed. I was reflecting on the level-ups and growth of the four of us — myself, Han Sora, Park Seeun, and Kim Seyeon. Sora, you hit level 14 this time, correct?"

"Huuheeh… huh? Ah, yes. That's right, oppa!"

Han Sora's newly updated stats looked like this.

Among all the survivors besides me, Han Sora still held the highest level. And once she reached the next level — 15 — she would be able to learn another Archer first-tier skill.

Of the Archer first-tier skills, excluding Magic Shot which Sora couldn't learn, there were Tracking and Prey Selection — both of which were supposedly optimized for hunting.

In other words, if she leveled up tomorrow, Han Sora would be able to hunt more efficiently than anyone else.

Next came Kim Seyeon and Park Seeun, both of whom had comfortably reached level 12.

In particular, the Sacred Ground that Kim Seyeon had taken after breaking past level 10 — and she had agonized quite deeply over that choice — had an effect that made your jaw drop just from reading the description.

In other words, Kim Seyeon's Sacred Ground — now that her level had risen considerably — could serve as a pseudo clean zone. I had a strong feeling it would prove extremely useful on the journey toward Seoul.

Park Seeun had chosen Leap as her first-tier skill.

Her reasoning was that it was ideal for scaling tall buildings in an instant or escaping in an emergency.

It was a highly versatile skill, but it didn't seem like it would help much with Park Seeun's own hunting. When I asked if she was sure about that choice, she answered like this:

"I figured I at least had to do this much… so I wouldn't hold anyone back. Right now, I'm the biggest liability."

"That's not true at all. You—"

"No. Oppa said it himself before, remember? That you and I… can't really hunt together because of the skill gap. Watching you hunt, and working with Sora unnie… that really drove it home. For me right now, the best I can do is make sure I'm not a burden."

…As always, Park Seeun was mature to a fault. Thinking back on the past Kim Seyeon-seonsaengnim had hinted at, it was hardly surprising…

"All four of you have grown tremendously, haven't you? Especially Seyeon unnie… hmm, now that I've awakened my Lord skill, I'm almost tempted to make her my vassal on the spot and keep her here. That Sacred Ground skill is honestly… no matter how you look at it, it's like a treasure for a survivor group like ours that has so few combat classes."

"Precisely."

Seo Hyejin really did have the makings of a leader. She had instantly identified who among us would be most valuable to a group.

…Hm? But Seo Hyejin's eyes seem to carry a slightly sly glint. Am I imagining things?

"Truth be told… the number one person I want as a vassal is you, Jeong Hoon-ssi. Fufu."

Not imagining things. Honestly…

Seo Hyejin tossed that bit of flirting at me with complete shamelessness, right in front of Sora who was clinging to my side like a lover.

"Y-you… n-no! Seo Hyejin… unnie-ssi! Who do you think you're saying that in front of…!?"

Sora reacted instantly and violently.

She even managed a thoroughly confused form of address in her fluster. But Seo Hyejin was shameless. More precisely, she countered Sora's words with the air of someone toying with her in the palm of her hand.

"Oh myyy… what's wrong, Sora? I was simply speaking as someone with the Lord class — saying I'd like to make Jeong Hoon-ssi my vassal so I can give him the guild member buff. I never once revealed any desire to give him a position like vice guild master or anything of the sort."

She just said the whole thing out loud herself. No, in a way that was just another form of teasing Sora.

As expected, Sora reacted even more fiercely.

"J-just now… you just said it! That you want to give him the vice guild master position! Th-that's basically… basically…"

"Hm? Basicallyyy? What is our little Sora trying to say? Go on, this unnie will listen to every single word without missing one. Why don't you tell me?"

"Th-thaaaat…!"

I had no desire to watch any more of this childish bickering, so I opened my mouth immediately.

"That is unlikely to happen."

"Pardon?"

"Thaa… huh? Oppa?"

I pulled up my notification window.

Then I sent both of them a party invite (we only formed parties when hunting). The two of them accepted with puzzled looks, and soon my system window filled their vision.

My system window — having successfully leveled Warrior, Mage, and Rogue all at once — would be filling both their eyes right about now.

Of course, that wasn't the important part.

"I, too, am now in a position to reign as a lord from this point forward."

I murmured the rather provocative words calmly, right in front of Seo Hyejin — who held the Lord class herself.