The Walls Have Ears (3)
The next morning. April 21st.
We set out on the journey toward Yeouido.
The lingering taste of yesterday's deep kiss still clung to the tip of my tongue.
"Has everyone packed their things?"
But neither I nor Kim Seyeon let anything show. We simply finished preparing for the road ahead.
"Yes, everything's packed."
Ugh. For a split second, Kim Seyeon's lips caught my eye. Just the curve of them — nothing more — and something in my chest gave a hard, sudden lurch.
...Obviously, last night's secret rendezvous had been nothing but a kiss. Yeah. That was all. We didn't do anything else. With a kid in the middle of it all, you'd have to be insane to push things further. And if I so much as entertained the desire, Lawful Good ajusshi would be on me in a heartbeat with a "You scoundrel!" That's what scares me! One wrong move and the whole mood gets completely wrecked!
Even so, the aftertaste alone... I kept brushing my fingers near my lips, summoning it back again and again.
A kiss that mature was a first for me. The ones Sora and I had shared were firsts for both of us — awkward and sweetly green. Compared to that, Kim Seyeon was truly...
"Is this enough to bring, unnie? There's still room in the Feather Bag..."
While I was checking the inside of the Feather Bag and drifting back to last night, I heard Park Seeun posing a question to Kim Seyeon. Han Sora, standing beside her, seemed to share the same thought and spoke up.
"I-I agree, unnie. W-wouldn't it be okay to pack a few more things for the little one?"
"It's fine. This is enough. And if we run short... we can always grab supplies from a department store in Yeouido. Right?"
Kim Seyeon answered their concern for her little niece(?) with remarkable optimism. It was a persuasive point. Baby supplies left gathering dust in a department store were bound to be more trustworthy than whatever ancient infant gear had been sitting forgotten in a house for who-knows-how-long.
More importantly, Yeouido wasn't some far-flung destination requiring a marathon trek. Put simply: head north to the edge of SC District, follow the Han River Park west, and keep going — you'd arrive in less than half a day.
"Shall we go, Minji?"
"Mm... where are we going, Mommy?"
"Somewhere safe. Yeouido. Oppa Jeong Hoon said Yeouido is a good place."
"Jeong Hoon oppa...?"
A child's pure eyes turned toward me.
Something about it felt enormously heavy. The pressure of having to present both a grown-up's composure and a merciful kindness at the same time. Well — on the outside, Lawful Good simply held that trademark impassive expression of his.
I worried that this default Lawful Good face might frighten Minji, but Seo Minji didn't look away from my eyes. Then again, she hadn't seemed particularly scared when we met yesterday either.
"This oppa is going to protect our Minji no matter what. So listen to what he says, okay?"
"Yeees..."
The child stared straight at me and dipped her head in a little bow. A teacher's household, through and through. A polite, well-mannered kid.
With our bags packed and breakfast finished, we left Seo Jeonggu's mansion.
Before stepping out, Kim Seyeon paused and looked back at the house — as if saying a final goodbye.
"Will Minji accept this easily?"
"...She was actually quite happy about it. I think that child felt uncomfortable living here without her mother, too."
In the moment before we left, I had whispered the question to her, and she answered with a bitter smile — as if alluding to the hard stretch her young daughter had endured, living apart from her mother.
We avoided the main roads. For better or worse, South Korea was a country full of mountains large and small. That meant we could choose mountain paths instead of the boulevards when we needed to.
Taking the mountain trail that cut through SC District's ecological park, we pushed north.
Park Seeun and I took the vanguard. Kim Seyeon and her daughter Seo Minji held the center. Han Sora covered the rear, primarily watching our backs for any threats coming up from behind.
"Hah... hah... There's... fewer of them than I expected?"
Park Seeun, leading at the front, spoke between heavy breaths.
The ecological park had well-maintained paths. It wasn't particularly high, and it was quiet — eerily so.
So people hadn't flooded into the mountains after the outbreak after all. Well... this wasn't exactly a towering peak. Now, if we were talking about that mountain further west — the one surrounding the national university, Gwanaksan — that might have been a different story.
"What do you mean, Seeun?"
Kim Seyeon picked up on Park Seeun's muttering from behind. Park Seeun wiped the sweat from her brow with a handkerchief and answered.
"Zombies and... monsters. Hah... I mean, sure, we're on a mountain path, but... hah... no, even accounting for that — aren't there way too few? This is Seoul."
"Huh?"
"Hmm..."
"N-now that you mention it..."
We had no choice but to agree with Park Seeun.
By any common-sense measure, this was Seoul Special City — and not just any part of it, but one of the three most densely populated Gangnam districts. Compared to XX District in Gyeonggi Province, where we'd been staying, this place should have been crawling with zombies and monsters.
And yet they appeared only sparsely — more than none, but nowhere near enough to feel threatening. Two weeks ago, our group might have felt the pressure. But for who we were now, that kind of small-scale presence barely registered as opposition.
"I actually felt something off from the moment we entered Seoul. Based on population alone, there should be far more of them scattered around than there were in XX District. I wondered if survivors might have banded together and driven the zombies and monsters out — but that doesn't seem right either. If they had, we'd be seeing fortresses or settlements built by survivor groups, wouldn't we? And people out on the streets."
Kim Seyeon added her own assessment, and the rest of us nodded along. Of course, that was as far as it went. We still couldn't pin down a solid explanation for the phenomenon.
After all, we'd only arrived in Seoul yesterday. Without meeting at least one Seoul native(?), figuring out the full story seemed unlikely.
A few minutes later, we did meet one.
"Drop everything you've got and get lost! Hey — you women over there! You stay. Got it?"
A Seoul native. In the worst possible way.
Was this how Seoul locals typically said hello? That was the kind of meeting it was.
We'd come down off the mountain, the Han River embankment just coming into view, when someone else's presence registered. Han Sora jolted in alarm and reported that a group of people was hiding up ahead on the path we were about to take.
Having just heard Kim Seyeon's hypothesis, we approached with a measure of hope. And the moment we got close, that band of survivors greeted us with words we never saw coming.
As if they were a pack of bandits.
"Hey, you bastard! Can't you hear me? Drop everything and get the hell out! Ah — leave the women here! Stay and have a little chat with us!"
"Heh heh, yeah! We're gonna have a nice, long, heart-to-heart!"
"Shit, you seeing those bitches? How the hell are faces like that walking around in times like these? I never even saw that kind of quality back when things were normal!"
"Fuck! I thought they were a mirage! Looking up close... damn, check out those bodies."
"Were they idols or something? How are they that fine?"
"One of 'em's got a kid with her! Ugh, reeks of the henhouse!"
Th-that son of a bitch?
Déjà vu hit hard. It brought back the moment we'd run into Kim Suhyeok's crew.
Of course, these Seoul natives(?) looked older than Kim Suhyeok's gang. And unlike those guys — young and in decent shape — this lot was a mixed bag of potbellies, beanpoles, and hairy types... a real motley crew.
But were these bastards serious? Were they actually trying to rob us, or was this some insider Seoul dialect I alone didn't understand?
Kim Seyeon, Han Sora, Park Seeun, and I traded looks, our faces frozen in identical blank shock. We shared the same disorienting feeling — unable to tell whether what was unfolding in front of us was real or some kind of hallucination.
Naturally, since we just stood there gaping without answering, the man playing leader of the bandit pack(?) raised his voice in mounting fury.
"Hey, hey, hey! When someone talks to you, you answer! You fucking bitches! You wanna get beaten until the dust flies and then answer? Huh?"
"Yeah! Haha! You wanna taste this old man's cock-club? Huh?"
"Ah, fuck! Now that I say it, I wanna get started already!"
"Me too, me too!"
Obscenities and curses flew thick and fast. These guys were clearly not right in the head. Or maybe their eyesight was catastrophically bad.
Curious where that baseless confidence was even coming from, I put a pure-intentioned question to him.
"Are you lot playing at being mountain bandits, by any chance?"
That must have pulled the trigger clean. The leader's face flushed even hotter than before as he unleashed a fresh torrent of abuse at me.
"What? What the fuck? Playing bandit? Playing baaaandit? You little shit! Does what this old man is doing look like playing bandit to you? Huh? This bastard's guts have spilled right out of his belly. Fuck! Should I stick a knife in that gut, pull your intestines out, and stuff 'em back in for you? You fucking bastard? Huh? Does this look like a game to you, huh? And what's with that fucked-up way of talking!"
Wow. Just going straight for the reverse scale, huh? His underlings jeered along in solidarity.
"Yeah! Fuck, if you don't wanna die, drop everything and get lost! The women stay put!"
"Strip that bastard naked and toss him in the river!"
"What's with that guy's speech? Has he been watching too many historical dramas? What a retard!"
...I wasn't sure about the rest, but one thing I was certain of.
In keeping with our party's customs(?), which placed a high value on manners(?), these gentlemen needed a thorough infusion of etiquette.
And so, ten minutes passed.
"Guhhk... uuuugh...!"
"Grrrrgh...!"
"M-monster...!"
"Eeeek... I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
"T-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-trembling..."
A band of roughly ten bandits lay sprawled across the ground. Some clasped their hands and begged. Some even pressed their foreheads to the dirt. A tiny minority had simply passed out cold where they fell. Even the ones who'd tried to bolt had been caught and gently handled(?) — and the results had come back to the bandit pack in spectacularly miserable fashion.
Every last one of them stood before me limping, groaning in pain, faces swollen, heads bowed.
And the leader — the one who'd been hurling dual-barreled curses at me earlier — looked like this:
"Aigo, hyungnim! This humble one failed to recognize you! This stupid little brother failed to recognize hyungnim's power! Please, just once — just this once — spare our lives! Me and these guys here are nothing more and nothing less than dumb street punks who shake people down for pocket change! Please, just once...!"
A man who embodied the word "groveling" with his entire body.
I'd had a flicker of unease — wondering if these guys were relying on their levels to pull off robberies.
But then a conversation I'd once had with Kim Seyeon while hunting in XX District suddenly came back to me.
The hypothesis that people's appearances and physiques changed as they leveled up. That hypothesis had been proven true as the members of Hope's Wings Guild climbed higher in level.
But the men in front of me had faces and body types that were distinctly, individually unremarkable. No — to put it bluntly, they were uglier and in worse shape than even Kim Suhyeok's crew. That alone was enough to give me the gut feeling that their levels were far below ours, and I moved on pure instinct.
Like bowling a perfect strike, I got to watch the entire bandit pack sprawled at my feet, begging for their lives.
"Confess at once why you do such things. Answer my questions without lies. If you refuse, say so. I shall ensure you carry that refusal in your heart for eternity."
I didn't stop at words. I gave the nearby retaining wall a light punch — just enough weight behind it.
BOOM. CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!
A fissure split the wall. With nothing but the fist I'd swung, I had cracked solid masonry.
The blood draining from the bandits' faces until they went deathly pale was only natural. The so-called leader went so far as to slam his head straight into the ground as he pleaded.
"Aigo, aigo! My lord! Please, just spare our lives. Please! We are truly nothing but a bandit pack scraping by day to day! Please, just our lives, pleeease...!"
"Answer me. Why attack people instead of hunting monsters?"
"Aigo, aigo, hyungnim! Our average level isn't even five — hunting monsters was completely out of the question! But we couldn't just starve, so we had no choice but to pick the pockets of survivors passing through! Aigo!"
"Earlier you were going on about the women... Seems you've done quite a bit of harm, have you not?"
As I asked, I let my face twist, just slightly.
The leader went even more ashen and slammed his head into the ground again with a dull thunk. Hard enough that I half-expected blood.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, hyungnim! It was pure bluster! We've never so much as held a woman's hand! I-it's the truth! We just threatened people and cleaned out their pockets, that's all! Yes!"
"Th-that's right! Our hyungnim isn't lying!"
"Women don't even walk the streets to begin with— ah, no! It's true! We only shook down people passing by!"
The bandits cried out their innocence(?) in unison.
Hmm. What the last guy said was probably closest to the truth. They'd wanted to — but couldn't, because there were none. That was why their eyes had spun the moment they saw us.
"There seem to be relatively few monsters in this area. Why is that?"
The moment I asked, I caught it.
The bandit leader's expression twisted ever so slightly — then snapped back into place.
"I-I don't really know about th— eeeek! It's true, it's true! I really don't know!"
I took another step toward him, positioning myself as if I meant to give his head a little massage with my fist. He went pale and bowed even more frantically.
But I couldn't trust him. Just now, when the monster numbers came up, this bastard's face had definitely twisted a little. He was hiding something. That much was clear.
"Th-th-that is..."
I was considering whether to start bending limbs until I got an answer when one of the bandits in the back carefully raised a hand. Hmm. Finally, everyone was learning their manners. A good thrashing really was a cure-all.
"A-a little while ago... m-monsters and zombies... a-a whole lot of monsters and zombies... they all crossed the bridges into Gangbuk. I-I honestly don't know why, but they really all went north across the river. I-it's true!"
"Th-that's right!"
"Like they were possessed or something — they just crossed the bridges into Gangbuk!"
Several of the bandits chimed in, backing the claim.
I stepped back a little and spoke to my companions — the three who had been watching the perimeter in case any more of these guys' friends showed up.
"What do you make of it?"
It was Kim Seyeon who answered.
"I don't think it's a lie. No — if anything, that claim is... the only explanation that accounts for why there are relatively few monsters and zombies in Gangnam right now."
Gangbuk. Zombies and monsters pouring across the great Han River bridges into the northern half of the city. It was a picture that didn't come easily to the mind's eye.
"Then what shall we do with these ones?"
"Just dump them all under the Han River!"
"M-maybe handle it as indirectly as possible..."
Park Seeun and Han Sora answered immediately. Both of them clearly felt there was no need to show these bandits any mercy. At the same time, both seemed to hope I wouldn't incur any penalty for killing survivors.
"...Let's do it this way, Jeong Hoon-ssi. *whisper whisper*..."
Kim Seyeon seemed to deliberate for a moment, then leaned in and whispered something against my ear.
I nodded and decided to take the suggestion. It was an exceptionally good one.
"You there. Leader of the bandits."
"Eek! Y-yes... huuuaaagh!"
Before he could finish answering, I seized the bastard by the collar and hauled him upright.
No — I grabbed his collar and hoisted him high. High enough that his feet left the ground.
Naturally, he went deathly pale. In the lowest, most growling voice I could manage, I delivered a hard warning.
"All of you — I shall spare your lives. But if word ever reaches my ears that you have robbed so much as once more... I will make you wish you had died today. Understood?"
"Huuuugh! Y-yeees!"
"In exchange, every time you meet another survivor, you will spread the word. From this day forward, the Gangnam districts of Seoul Special City shall belong to a man named Jeong Hoon!"
"Yeeees...! Huh? Huuuaaagh!? J-Jeong Hoon? Jeong Hoon, you said?"
"Th-that guy is... Jeong Hoon?"
"Th-the one who was first to take down a Field Boss and killed a minotaur too?"
"F-fuck... we kicked a hornet's nest!"
...Ah. Right. I was stupidly famous. I'd forgotten. Not that it mattered. If anything, Teacher Kim Seyeon's plan to "raise my renown" looked like it was about to pay off handsomely.
"Tell anyone who objects to my declaration to come to Yeouido — all of them! To Yeouido, I say! Grab them by the pant legs if you must, but make sure they hear it! Or else right here, right now, I will crack open your skulls the same way I cracked that wall!"
I all but roared it like a lion, and the leader dangling from my grip was on the verge of passing out. The underlings behind him simply lost their minds with terror.
I let go of the bandit's collar.
"Oof! Ghhk, guh!"
"Ah. And one more thing."
I snagged one of the bandits who was starting to edge away.
The one who had dared to spit something unspeakable about my woman(?), Kim Seyeon.
"You. Earlier you said something about our party smelling like a henhouse, did you not?"
"Ah, th-that was... GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
I delivered a punishment befitting a man who had run his mouth.