The Attitude of Asking
Han Miseon's group of survivors.
They had been waiting in the relatively safe subway station for word of victory from their comrades — Han Daegeon and his party, who had set out for Gangbuk. They had considered going north themselves, but since the majority of them held non-combat classes, the prevailing opinion had been that remaining behind under the banner of rear-line support was the wiser course.
In the end, they chose the Yeouido subway station as their hideout — one of the closest locations to Gangbuk that still offered a halfway decent place to stay. Their plan had been to stockpile enough daily necessities to eventually reinforce the party that had gone north, while putting their non-combat production skills to use.
It never happened. The reason was obvious. How were they supposed to ignore the endless stream of monsters and zombies pouring across the bridges toward Gangbuk and simply walk outside? Charging out with nothing but non-combat classes — Blacksmiths, Lords, and non-combat Mage variants — would have meant certain annihilation.
So, like survivors everywhere else, they were reduced to sending a few people out with extreme caution to scavenge daily necessities from nearby department stores, markets, and convenience stores, just to keep themselves alive.
A full week of that had already passed when someone, hearing a commotion outside by chance, went out on reconnaissance. That someone was Han Miseon. By pure coincidence she encountered a group of survivors she had never seen before and urged them to take shelter in the subway station.
They refused. Instead, they headed straight into the National Assembly Building. And among them was someone Han Miseon already knew.
"Enough. Just go hide in that precious little hideout of yours. Yeouido is going to be cleaned up so thoroughly by our Orabeoni Jeong Hoon that it'll practically be a holy land."
"Han Miseon, was it? For now, remain in your hideout. Perfectly reclaiming Yeouido and making it my territory will take some time. That will be all."
Having received Yun Mina's provocative jab and Jeong Hoon's one-sided declaration, Han Miseon returned and reported to her group. Their reaction was lukewarm at best.
"Aren't they just ordinary suicide hopefuls? How do they think they're going to take down hundreds of those monsters…?"
"Guess Mina finally lost it. Hanging around with weirdos like that."
Han Miseon felt deeply uneasy, but she let it go for the day.
The next day, something astonishing happened.
"Th-the main road is clean! No — it's overflowing with nothing but monster and zombie remains…!"
"I saw them! Those people… that man and the women with him slaughtered every last monster!"
Several people who had gone out on reconnaissance came back and reported Jeong Hoon's party's massacre — and the aftermath — to the rest of the group. After Han Miseon's account the day before, and now these fresh reports, unrest rippled through the subway station survivors. More precisely, opinion split cleanly in two.
"We should join them! We're fellow survivors, aren't we? We just need to ask them to protect us!"
"But… we have to wait for Daegeon oppa's group. And we swore that once Daegeon oppa's… once Jung Yun unnie forms a guild, we'd join it. If we're not careful, this is betrayal…!"
"How do you know when they're even coming back? And have you looked at Gangbuk? It's completely saturated with malice! I'm sorry about Daegeon, but… they probably died ages ago, or ran for their lives!"
"What did you just say!?"
Han Miseon flared up and raised her voice, but the argument didn't last long. Caution had been drilled into their bones — the fear that other monsters might overhear — and they were all too weak from inadequate food to sustain a real fight.
In the end, the group remained divided, with no conclusion reached. And that division bred independent action.
"W-what? Twenty people… left?"
"Yeah. I'm sorry, Miseon… I tried to stop them, but this morning they just took off on their own, saying they'd go negotiate with that man themselves…!"
"Th-that's insane…!"
Just like that, the subway station survivor group that had somehow managed to hold onto its cohesion developed a crack in a mere day or two.
And those who left, carrying hope as they went out to meet Jeong Hoon…
"Kuhik? Humans… lots of humans!"
"Kukekek!"
"Uwoooo…!"
…had the misfortune of running straight into the countless zombies and monsters streaming along the main roads and bridges toward Gangbuk.
In the midst of that one-sided slaughter that erupted in an instant, a man appeared and extended a fist of salvation.
It was Jeong Hoon.
"A-amazing…!"
"Th-that's impossible. I-in thirty minutes… all those monsters…!?"
"No, it wasn't even thirty minutes, was it?"
Hearing their awestruck murmurs made my chest swell all over again. Hmm. Turns out I kind of enjoy hearing people react to me with reverence. On a normal day my cheekbones would have been rocketing toward the heavens by now.
The grand procession of monsters and zombies collapsed once again today. No — the lineup was so much weaker than yesterday's that crushing them was almost pitifully easy. None of the orcs were properly equipped, and the goblins were pathetic.
Maybe the strong monsters had already crossed the bridges into Gangbuk long ago, and what we were seeing now was the weak ones filtering through in order. That was the hunch forming in my mind.
"Hoo…!"
"G-great work, oppa!"
"You worked hard, Jeong Hoon-ssi."
"Oppa, you're not hurt anywhere?"
"Come on, Sora unnie… you think oppa's the type to get hurt by small fry like these?"
My party members, who had been providing support, came over to encourage me. The stench of blood clinging to my body was thoroughly unpleasant, so I told them not to get too close. They just smirked, used to it by now.
The monsters were dealt with, and we'd more or less rescued the survivors. Some of the wounded were already being tended to in a hurry by people from the subway station.
It was a rather pitiful sight. They'd been helplessly getting slaughtered until moments ago, and only after it was over were they finally scrambling to save their own comrades.
"Th-thank you! Are you… by any chance the one who's been slaughtering the monsters on this main road for the past few days?"
Hmm. Right on script.
A relatively intact-looking middle-aged man edged closer, reading the room carefully. He must have heard about me from that Han Miseon woman.
Good. Then I'll stick to the script too. Lawful Good, lend me just the "bluntness," all right? Just that.
"…"
"U-um…?"
When my party and I simply stood there in silence without answering, the man looked thoroughly awkward.
Good. Atmosphere secured. Now, let's keep it as dry as possible.
"You. Are you the leader of these survivors?"
"W-what!?"
Caught completely off guard by the sudden question, the man in front of me jumped.
"N-no. I-I'm just… with these people here, hoping we might receive a little of your help… is all."
"…"
Of course that's how he plays it. A flash of contempt crossed my mind, but thanks to Lawful Good, my expression remained perfectly, unbrokenly blunt.
"I warn you. Do not approach this area again. It will be dangerous."
I left those cold words hanging and turned away. My women likewise turned their heads without a single comment. The seamless coordination told me Kim Seyeon had definitely briefed them in advance.
"W-wait! P-please, just a moment! Please wait!"
As expected, he grabbed on. Internally I was cheering, but outwardly I furrowed my brow slightly, paused, and turned my head back — only halfway — with deliberate slowness. Then I looked over the subway station survivors calling out to me with a distinctly displeased face.
"Please help us! We're all non-combat classes, so gathering supplies or fighting monsters is unbearably hard! If you help us, we'll repay you somehow — we swear! Please?"
The middle-aged man from before pleaded with me almost desperately.
But my cold tone didn't soften. If anything, my reply came back laced with an even sharper chill than before.
"There seems to be a misunderstanding. I merely found the monsters in my territory's front yard irritating and disposed of them. You people simply got caught up in it — nothing more, nothing less. This conversation is over. Go back."
I turned my head away again and started walking with the clear attitude that I had nothing more to say. Confusing, wasn't it? They never expected me to be this cold.
"N-no…!"
"Hey! We're the same kind of people! How can you be so heartless? We should be helping each other — who knows what might happen later!"
A voice of a different tone cut in.
Glancing over, I saw a relatively healthy-looking adult woman speaking up sharply — the next most intact person after the middle-aged man. I'd noticed her trembling earlier. Now that she felt a little safer, she was ready to push her luck?
Or maybe she thought I'd go easy on her because she was a woman? She seemed to have overlooked the fact that I had women of my own standing right beside me.
"Who do you people think you are, making demands of our Jeong Hoon-nim like this — do this, do that!?"
Kim Seyeon suddenly stepped forward, raising her voice like the strictest woman alive. Chin lifted high, she radiated genuine intimidation — the exact image of a parent cornering a teacher over every last trivial detail.
"What? What did you just say!?"
"Listen here. If you have any conscience at all, haven't you ever thought about how shameless you are? Demanding this and that from our Lord Jeong Hoon. We built this territory with our own hands! We busted our asses clearing out monsters and zombies! And people who contributed nothing are asking us to share the results? You did nothing, and you have the nerve!"
"W-what! How can you be so cold when you don't even know what might happen—"
"What might happen? Is the government going to mobilize the military and wipe out the zombies? It's been well over three weeks since this godforsaken world started, and there's not a single sign of that!"
"N-no! Besides that… some of our people went to Gangbuk to fight the monsters—"
"Gangbuk? Gaaangbuk? Ah, you mean that Gangbuk over there, thick with dark clouds and pure menace? The place all the monsters are flocking to? I'm sorry about your comrades, but if you've lost contact, hasn't it occurred to you that they died a long time ago?"
"H-hold on! Those people only left a week ago! Who do you think you are, just deciding on your own that people are dead!?"
Whoa. A women's verbal brawl… genuinely terrifying, and I absolutely did not want to get involved. They were practically loud enough to clear the whole neighborhood.
"W-wow, unnie… married women really are different."
"Whoa, Seyeon unnie… that's incredible. Seriously."
"…So this is the difference between fake madness and the real thing, huh?"
…It wasn't just me. Han Sora, Park Seeun, and Yun Mina were all looking at Kim Seyeon with open admiration.
But Mina — are you saying that with a straight face…?
"I don't care when they left! If there's still no word, you should accept that they're dead or that you'll never see them again! Go steal supplies yourselves, figure out your own way to survive! Why are you just sitting there with your hands out, begging strangers for free help? We're done talking. Jeong Hoon-nim? Let's go. There's no value in conversing with people this shameless."
Kim Seyeon delivered her scathing indictment and whipped her head around. I could see some of the survivors on the other side flaring up.
Heh. She was moving exactly like a puppet following Seyeon's script. I felt the urge to shout Free residents, baby — jackpot.
"Hey, you cold-hearted bastards! Acting all petty like that! We're all people suffering together — what's so upsetting about sharing!? How are WE the shameless ones!? Is sharing food that repulsive to you!?"
"What? That little—"
Just as Kim Seyeon was about to explode at the survivors' blunt complaints, I stopped her. Exactly as planned.
"That's enough… Seyeon."
Man, using this kind of speech in front of other people is really hard.
"B-but! Jeong Hoon-ssi. Those people are disgustingly shameless! If we don't properly punish them—"
"It's fine. Perhaps we were also at fault for explaining unkindly. Leave it to me."
I put on the warmest smile I could manage, rested a hand on Kim Seyeon's shoulder, and soothed her.
Ah. Her expression softened, and her cheeks flushed.
Huh? This feels… genuine. She actually likes it when I smile gently and comfort her.
…Come to think of it, it hasn't even been a full day since Seyeon and I spent that messy night together. Strictly speaking, we even did it this morning, so it's only been a few hou— ahem ahem!
"You may have heard already, but my name is Jeong Hoon. If you heard the Administrator's words two weeks ago, this name should be familiar to you."
"Ah, wait a moment… huh?"
"Wait, s-surely… you… from XX District in Gyeonggi-do…?"
They'd only thought of it as a common name coincidence until now. Shock and dread began to paint the survivors' faces. I fought to keep my expression composed — Lawful Good holding back the smile tugging at the corners of my mouth — and calmly delivered the point.
"Going forward, starting with the National Assembly Building, I intend to make Yeouido, then Gangnam, and eventually all of Seoul my territory. I declare this with certainty. If you wish to receive aid from me—"
Watching the survivors' expressions shift second by second under my kindly explanation never got boring.
"…I-I see."
April 25th, afternoon.
Inside the National Assembly Station subway platform.
Han Miseon was able to hear the full story from someone she knew among those who had returned from the surface.
"So many people… left like that."
Her chest didn't just ache — it felt like a knife was being driven through it. People she had shared a week of survival with, slaughtered in an instant. This horrifically unfair and cold reality carved yet another deep wound into Han Miseon's heart.
"At least that Jeong Hoon person intervened, so several of us including myself survived. And… he was acting incredibly cold, but then he suddenly made a proposal."
"A proposal?"
To Han Miseon, tilting her head, the survivor who had barely made it back from outside solemnly relayed Jeong Hoon's offer.
"A proposal to become residents of his territory. A lot of people wavered, but… you saw, right? How many didn't come back."
"Ah…!"
So that was why so many people hadn't returned!
"Yes. The injured who needed treatment and a few of the women crossed over. The others agonized over it and came back with me."
Residents!
It was absurd. Not guild members — residents? Did he think he was some kind of noble?
Of course, Han Miseon knew that the guild system in Brave Saga Online had been modeled on aristocratic titles. Her close acquaintance Jung Yun — who was also deeply involved with Han Daegeon — was a Lord-class, after all.
But to openly introduce himself as a lord and now start recruiting residents? It was no different from declaring his ambition to divide people into ranks and rule over them!
In modern society — even if it had collapsed — this was still the very ground where democracy and a republic had once functioned, where the Republic of Korea had existed.
"Yeongjun-ssi. Please don't tell the others about this."
"…It's already too late, Miseon-ssi. Look around you."
"Ah…!"
Yeongjun wasn't the only one who had returned. Other survivors who had come back in a state of confusion were already spreading the news to the dozens still remaining in the subway station.
Miseon felt dizzy. The other side's proposal was unilateral. Stripped down, it could be interpreted as: Become my subordinates.
The problem was what they offered in exchange — safety, food, and a place to sleep.
Yes. The basic necessities of life.
In exchange for becoming underlings to that man — or rather, to that six-person survivor group — they could secure safety.
And it wasn't just empty words. He had personally slaughtered monsters in front of countless eyes and earned a measure of credibility in the process.
"I-I want to go too!"
"Are you crazy, unnie? We have to wait for Daegeon-ssi!"
"It's already been over a week since those people left! I don't want to starve and nibble on bread crusts anymore! I want a warm meal. I want to sleep under a blanket on a real pillow! They're saying they'll guarantee that!"
"Will they take children too?"
"Yes, they said age and gender don't matter. They even said they'd give preferential treatment to the tiny minority of people who survived without ever playing the game."
"What? The conditions are way more generous than I thought!"
"What, you're thinking of going?"
"So you'd rather stay holed up here like a rat and just starve?"
"You bastard! What about the promise we made with the people who went to Gangbuk!?"
"We're about to starve to death right now — does that even matter?"
The uproar wouldn't stop. The atmosphere among the subway station survivors, which had been hanging by a thread, filled with chaos.
We have to sit tight and wait. No, we should join that man immediately. Is that man really that strong? Isn't this already the third time he's wiped out the monsters on the main road? On and on…
"Ah… aah…"
Leaning against the wall without thinking, Han Miseon pressed a hand to her head, feeling lightheaded.
This is what he was aiming for.
For us to fall into conflict, split apart… and in the end, have no choice but to join him.
She had no choice but to clench her teeth. She even felt wronged.
Why. Why go that far.
He could have just reached out a helping hand like a normal neighbor. The way her own older brother had done — with the mindset that people survive by helping each other!
Why force people to bow their heads and enter as the subordinate party in a hierarchical relationship…!
"Mina unnie… why!"
And in the end, Han Miseon muttered someone's name, filled with a hatred that was completely off-target.
Remarkably, it was the name of a woman who had almost nothing to do with the current situation.
"Because their attitude when asking was completely wrong."
After treating the people who had come in as residents and assigning them lodging in the former National Assembly Members' Building, Kim Seyeon whispered the reason to me on the way back to our own nest — the former National Assembly daycare center.
"Attitude…?"
"Yes. Attitude."
I'd taken it for a playful turn of phrase, but Kim Seyeon's expression was utterly serious.
"Those people… they didn't grow alongside you, Jeong Hoon-ssi, and they didn't share the same hardships. On the contrary, they tried to piggyback on the results you created — no, worse than that. They tried to freeload and suck out the sweet parts. If they had the will to grow and form a guild the way the people from Daengdaeng Elementary School did, that would be one thing. But they had neither the will nor anything else… they just sat there with big mouths, clinging to empty hope. Like the fox staring up at the grapevine, licking its lips."
An elegant metaphor.
She wasn't wrong — those people had been pretty bad. "We're all survivors, so we should help each other." Where exactly was the logic in that absurd reasoning?
…No, wait a second. There was a sucker who did exactly that in the early days of the collapse, wasn't there? Right here, in fact?
That was me! Me, when Lawful Good had been hijacking me! Nobody else — me!
Huh? Hold on…!
"Becoming residents won't be a bad deal for them either. They get to stay in a safe area, they can do any work that benefits the territory, and as long as they pay a modest tax regularly… they can receive a considerable level of welfare services. All in a way that doesn't place a heavy burden on us. If I may be so bold… tomorrow, even more people will come flocking in. Begging us to take them in too — with their heads bowed low."
While I was reeling from the shocking realization, my chest churning, Kim Seyeon spoke to me in a near-whisper.
That snapped me back to my senses and raised a question. More people coming to become residents? Was that really possible?
"Won't there still be people who believe in Han Daegeon and keep waiting?"
"That's not a problem at all. In moments filled with crisis and deprivation, people ultimately choose the path that protects them from the crisis and fills the deprivation. Distant comrades who left yesterday and may never return — versus us, standing right in front of them as superiors, offering to guarantee food, clothing, and shelter if they come in as subordinates. Isn't the choice rather… skewed?"
Ah. That last part was definitely laced with playfulness. The kind of playfulness you'd classify as black comedy, no less.
And the next day. April 26th.
Early in the morning, I stepped out in front of the National Assembly Building to check whether monsters had appeared on the main road again.
At the same time, I got to experience Kim Seyeon's prophecy coming true in real time.
"A-are you Jeong Hoon-ssi? Please take me in as a resident! I'm begging you! My wife and daughter haven't eaten properly for days…!"
"M-me too! Please take me as a resident too! I'm a Blacksmith — I can fix or make anything! I-if my level were just a little higher, I really could fix anything!"
"Please, me as well! I'm an Alchemist — give me the materials and I can make all kinds of potions!"
"Me too!"
"Please take me in!"
Watching them volunteer themselves as slaves, I was once again grateful that Lawful Good was managing my expression. It properly suppressed the urge to let my cheekbones launch into orbit.
And just like that, we acquired dozens of "residents" — also known as labor force.
However… there was one thing that nagged at me.
Lawful Good.
Unlike the early days of the collapse, it was increasingly often failing to put strong brakes on my speech and gestures.
More than anything, even at a moment perfectly suited for sucker behavior like yesterday, it hadn't altered my words or actions at all.
How was I supposed to take this change? And what on earth was the reason it was happening?
With my meager knowledge, I couldn't form even the slightest guess.