Accept the Newcomers! (1)
The morning of May 4th.
Building P.
From a middle floor of the tallest building among those nearest the National Assembly Building, someone was peering south through a telescope.
That someone was me, of course. And I was not alone. Flanking me on either side like an escort, Han Sora and Park Seeun gazed southward with me.
"Y-you can see it, right, Oppa? J-just around there... it's completely different."
"Indeed."
Han Sora pointed into the distance without even using a telescope, while I could only make it out through the lenses. Truthfully, even without the telescope one could vaguely sense the change in atmosphere hanging over that whole district.
But through the glass I could see, vivid and shocking, what had become of the area once called GW Mountain in GW-gu. As if sealed behind a colossal black wall, the region that had once held National S University was completely swallowed by a vast, dark barrier.
So that's a dungeon. It looked like a massive, jet-black building with a smooth surface — no entrance or exit in sight.
Tomorrow we would steel ourselves and step inside that place: the dungeon known as the Old Sanctuary of Education.
On May 3rd, Seo Hyejin's guild had entered Yeouido. Roughly twenty people suddenly rolling up in a van had startled the residents, but no one tensed up. We had given advance notice that an allied guild was coming to help secure the territory, after all.
Still, more than a few of them wore doubtful looks at the sight of Hope's Wings — a group that included a grandmother and two small children.
Some, Han Miseon in particular, had even laughed openly. She had only covered her mouth with her hand and snickered without making a sound, but it had been more than enough to piss me off.
I can't wait to reunite that bitch with her dear older brother.
I could only hope the fruits of my patience would ripen soon.
At any rate, their first impression had been a disappointment... but that disappointment did not last long.
Barely thirty minutes later, Lord Seo Hyejin had her Blacksmith guild members expand and reinforce the territory's main gate and walls so thoroughly that every lingering question died on the spot.
Honestly, even I was left speechless. Most of our own Blacksmiths had yet to hit level 10. A certain someone (Han-Mi-seon) was openly refusing to level up and half-assing every job she touched.
Yet Seo Hyejin's guild members — my old comrades — had, in the blink of an eye, turned the gate and walls our Blacksmith residents had sweated blood to patch into something incomparably larger and sturdier.
That was the difference experience and real skill made. It would have been stranger if there weren't a gap between people who had spent ages hiding in a subway station and people who had trained, grown, and shared life-and-death with me.
"Please think of it as a gift to commemorate our alliance."
"Then I ought to offer you a gift in return as well. To the southeast of the subway station stand the hotel and department store we first used when we entered Yeouido. Would you not take them as your guild headquarters?"
It was a bold proposal. There were two department stores; the one near the hotel still had its interior largely untouched. We had already stripped the other nearly bare for guild supplies.
In other words, I was offering Seo Hyejin's guild a building packed with daily necessities — plus lodging — completely free of charge.
"Mmm, it's a good offer, but... it's a little too far away."
"Hm? Too far from what?"
"Not from what... from you, Jeong Hoon-ssi. It's too far from you."
The moment Seo Hyejin opened that door, the rest of her guild surged forward, raising their voices all at once.
"She's right, Jeong Hoon-ssi! No — Lord Jeong Hoon! Please let us live inside the territory!"
"We don't want to be separated again! Our fates only mean something if we live them together!"
"To be parted from your side once more would mean falling straight into hell...!"
That damn cultist is stirring them up again!
And who the hell are these other people? When did she start recruiting more followers?
"Hyejin's point isn't wrong. That hotel isn't bad... no, it's actually fantastic, but it is a bit removed from the territory. The real problem is there's nowhere inside the territory that can house more than twenty people."
Well, that wasn't entirely true. The old National Assembly Members' Hall the residents currently used as lodging could easily accommodate more than twenty.
But there was one fact we could not overlook. Unlike Jung Yun's guild, which existed as a vassal (essentially a subsidiary of ours), Seo Hyejin's guild was an ally — which meant, strictly speaking, they were outsiders.
Calling my old comrades and precious people "outsiders" left a foul taste in my mouth, but Kim Seyeon had insisted the distinction was necessary for the future. Politics really were complicated. Now that I was a lord, it was a reality I could no longer ignore.
"Behind our lodging there is another former daycare of similar size, but it would be rather cramped for more than twenty adults to sleep in. I cannot recommend it."
"Ah, there's unused lodging?"
I saw Seo Hyejin's ears practically perk up.
"There is, but... it was originally a daycare. It is hardly suitable for more than twenty grown adults to sleep in."
"You don't need to worry about that. You saw how we reinforced the walls to fortress level just now, right?"
"Hm? What exactly do you intend to do?"
"Could you give us just one hour?"
About an hour later—
"It's done!"
"W-whoa..."
"In just one hour... they turned it into a three-story dormitory?"
"Isn't this a shoddy build?"
"The power of skills, huh... an architecture major would foam at the mouth and pass out seeing this."
Seo Hyejin's guild members were veterans, no question.
The moment I gave permission they had swarmed the place and, in no time at all, transformed a two-story kindergarten building into a three-story residence.
Where did they even get the materials? It was a little late to wonder, but still — how exactly did the Blacksmith class turn building construction into reality? Walls and gates were one thing, but this was an actual living space. Even alchemists needed ingredients to brew potions, didn't they?
Sensing my stare, Seo Hyejin gave a small snort of laughter and handed me a crystal-clear answer.
"The system itself doesn't make any sense, right? We just decided to treat it as game logic and move on. So... shall we just move on?"
Yeah. Let's just move on. The zombie apocalypse itself already made zero sense. Call it fantasy and leave it at that. Fantasy...
The night of May 4th.
One last stretch of rest before we set out for the dungeon.
We decided to make that rest truly meaningful. Just as we once had on the rooftop of Haengbok Villa, we would hold a little tea party.
Only this time it was no mere gathering of snacks, beer, and soft drinks. Every kind of canned food and meat had been hauled out; frozen meat pulled from the freezers, ice-cold drinks and beer, even assorted liquor — it had ballooned into a full-blown barbecue party.
More than sixty people were enjoying themselves.
"Aahh... this cold beer is killer!"
"Electricity really was this precious, huh..."
"One ice-cold beer and... damn, I'm actually tearing up. Shit...!"
"Is the meat still good? Can we even grill that?"
"The butler already checked it, so quit worrying!"
Canned food was fine, of course, but I had been genuinely worried about the raw meat that had been stored without power.
Fortunately there was a silver lining. Inside the department store, some of the meat had been sleeping in freezers still running on emergency batteries. Sealed away in that cool darkness, a portion of it had been verified safe to eat by the butler (whatever else he might be, the man was a professional when it came to household matters).
The moment electricity returned we had scraped together every scrap of fresh meat, the few frozen vegetables, and the fast food (mostly french fries) from the department store and stuffed it all into the territory's refrigerators and freezers.
And today we had cracked it all open, tasting once more the conveniences of civilization we had almost forgotten. Cold beer and barbecue — it was so good it could make a man cry. Not quite the old taste, but for now? This was more than enough.
"Sora, putting ice in your beer is a little..."
"D-don't stop me from having cold beer... Seyeon unnie. I-I know it's dumb, but... just today. Just for today!"
Han Sora in particular had completely lost it. She had told me before that she ran hot easily and craved cold drinks desperately. It was only May and not truly hot yet, but you could feel the temperature climbing day by day. Thank god we had gotten power to the territory before then. Now we could blast the air conditioning without a second thought.
The electric bill? I was the king here — who exactly was going to send me an invoice? And the generator that made this electricity was free for a whole year, no less. It had cost a small fortune to buy, sure, but still.
"God-Hun! O God-Hun!"
"Haa..."
While I was watching everyone savor the fruits of civilization, that one came sidling up as if determined to ruin the mood.
Name: Jang Seoju. Age: twenty-eight. Female.
She had started spouting odd things back in the Haengbok Villa days, and now she had fully transformed into a cult leader. The funny part was that before this act she had been an ordinary office worker with zero connection to religion. She had been a pretty hardcore idol fan, though... ah. Was that the root of it?
Anyway, Jang Seoju's sudden descent into cult-leader status had become a genuine headache. Naturally, the object of worship and faith was me. I had become an idol — and I was not particularly thrilled about it.
"Are you still going on about that, Jang Seoju?"
"To witness the achievements God-Hun has wrought and still refuse to believe... is that not a betrayal of faith itself? O God-Hun!"
"O God-Hun!"
"O God-Hun...!"
"God-Hun, take me!"
She actually gained more followers!
Wait — who are these three women I've never seen before? They're not from the Haengbok Villa group... are they!?
"These are new believers who attained enlightenment and joined our flock! From the very moment you smote those beasts filled with disbelief, they found faith, repented, and entered as devotees!"
Enlightenment... what? The "beasts filled with disbelief" are probably those flaming hell-horses.
Seo Hyejin had drifted to my side and whispered,
"They're people who joined us back in XX-gu. Said they couldn't stand living with those vile bastards anymore. For the record, every one of them is a combat class — Warriors and Archers."
Ahh. That explained why they had been missing during the lodging construction earlier.
This was genuinely welcome news. Even if Seo Hyejin's people were experienced, the majority were non-combat classes. At best you could put a Blacksmith's hammer or a Mage-Alchemist's explosive potions to use in a fight.
But if Warrior and Archer survivors joined the mix? Whatever faint distrust still lingered in our residents' hearts would dilute considerably.
"J-Jeong Hoon... n-no, God-Hun! To be able to witness your descent like this is... i-it fills me with such joy! Amen!"
Amen? Descent? At the newcomer's words I fixed Jang Seoju with a long, hard stare.
Oh-ho? Look at that bitch. She's dodging my eyes, isn't she? Aren't you supposed to be the cult leader?
"God-Hun! I-it is not that we wish to be greedy, but... p-please bestow your blessing upon these pitiful lambs!"
"P-please bestow it!"
The other two newcomers were staring at me with the same sparkling eyes and the same speech pattern. How thoroughly had they been brainwashed? Or did they just click that well together? They didn't even look that far apart in age.
More importantly — why was Seo Hyejin just letting this slide!?
As a guild leader, wasn't she supposed to shut this kind of thing down? I knew Jang Seoju was a capable Mage-Alchemist, but still!
"...Heh heh heh. With this...!"
I thought I heard Seo Hyejin mutter something just now. Something deeply suspicious.
"God-Hun... please...!"
Ah, these lunatics... Right. They had asked me to bestow some kind of blessing.
...Haa. Fine.
Lawful Good.
Do it.
"First of all, cease using that title 'God-Hun.' If you insist upon addressing me with honorifics, simply 'Jeong Hoon-ssi' or 'Jeong Hoon-nim' will suffice. I have not the slightest intention of being called a god — or God anything."
"H-huuuh...!"
At my earnest counsel, Jang Seoju reacted as though she might stop breathing. The other three were the same.
"G-God-Hun... n-no! Jeong Hoon-nim has spoken! He has commanded that any who defile that sacred name be burned without exception!"
"There is only one Jeong Hoon-nim!"
"Only one person bears the name Jeong Hoon, and all others are to be cast into the flames!!"
Stop twisting my words, you cultist bitch!
This called for a stronger warning. Go, Lawful Good-mon! Order! Order!
"Restrain that hysteria as well. I will not tell you to abandon the admiration and reverence you hold for me. But should your praise grow so excessive that it harms others, I will not remain idle. To borrow your own phrasing... I shall excommunicate you. Bear that always in mind."
"A-aah...!"
Now her eyes were welling up. No, seriously... did she have bipolar disorder or something? Given the cult act, it probably came standard.
"J-Jeong Hoon-nim has... left us a lesson. N-no... this is doctrine bestowed by Jeong Hoon-nim himself! Everyone, repeat after me! 'Though you keep me always in your hearts, you shall not browbeat others into doing the same...!'"
"...shall not..."
"...shall not...!"
"Ohh, Jeong Hoon-nim who honors the virtue of humility...!"
...They're putting on a whole damn show.
"...I ask only that you practice your faith with humility."
I gave up and decided not to stop them.
They clearly wouldn't listen even if I tried... and for some reason, I suddenly had the feeling this little cult of theirs might prove a great help on the road ahead.
No — not suddenly. From the very moment Jang Seoju first started with the "God-Hun" nonsense.
"Jeong Hoon-ssi, are you heading straight to the dungeon tomorrow?"
Once Jang Seoju's tearful circus (not really) had wrapped up, Seo Hyejin drew close again and spoke. Even with a beer in her hand, she showed not the slightest sign of intoxication.
More precisely, she seemed not to have taken a single sip since cracking the can.
"To be precise, we plan to depart around five in the morning. If we leave here by van at that hour, we should arrive in under an hour."
Having a working van thanks to Seo Hyejin's group was a genuine boon. We would ride out before dawn and clear the dungeon as quickly as possible — ideally before the sun went down.
According to Kim Seyeon, given the well-known nature of vampires, they would likely be more active at night than during the day. Running water, garlic, crosses, silver weapons — all those old superstitions. I could only hope they were no longer mere superstitions.
No matter how seasoned Seo Hyejin's people were, perfectly handling ambushes from high-level monsters would be difficult. Better to clear it fast and return to the territory. Possible, if we moved quickly enough.
"You decided to tackle the dungeon because we came to your territory, didn't you?"
"That is so."
"I hardly know what to do with that trust."
She answered humbly, but Seo Hyejin's face did not look particularly happy.
Was it the weight of that trust? Or had the wound of being driven from her own home still not healed?
"Honestly... being in a position where I work under someone else feels better. For me, I mean."
Out of nowhere, Seo Hyejin broke the silence and spoke.