The Elite Soldiers
Choi Junseo called me outside.
I wondered what that devious guy wanted to talk about, but it was about the disposal.
“We have to kill Seo Jungwoo.”
Kill Seo Jungwoo, huh…
Honestly, it was a point of contention.
If I kept him alive, could he ever become one of our people?
No, is it even right to make a person like Seo Jungwoo an ally?
My thoughts were skeptical.
“Hunter, please give me your permission.”
Choi Junseo pressed me once more.
Even so, I felt a resistance to killing Seo Jungwoo.
Perhaps it was because I didn't truly consider him an enemy.
In the past, I would have killed him without a second thought, but I didn't even know the exact reason why I was hesitating now.
“Hunter.”
“Let’s hold off for now.”
“No. You must kill him before tonight passes. If you don’t, you will die, Hunter.”
“Ha.”
It seemed that the General was meddling again.
Perhaps my resistance to killing Seo Jungwoo stemmed from the fact that it was Choi Junseo who suggested it.
Choi Junseo was a member of the alliance and the Osori shelter, but there was something unsettling about him.
I didn’t fully trust Choi Junseo.
Even if I counted Han Jiyoung and Kim Inbeom as having been with me for a long time, honestly, his reliability was even lower than Choi Giseop’s.
He had disobeyed my orders during operations before, and it was obvious that he would prioritize the General’s meddling over my commands in the future.
“I don’t believe in your fortune-telling.”
“You don’t have to believe it. I’m just telling you the facts.”
“It’s just your speculation. How can something that hasn’t even happened yet be a fact?”
“Because I can see it.”
Choi Junseo spoke with a tone of conviction, but I decided to just ignore him.
I didn’t want to determine my future based on some fortune-telling.
I should judge and decide for myself.
That’s how it’s been until now, and that’s how it should be in the future.
“I’ll say it one more time. You have to kill Seo Jungwoo.”
“That’s enough. Stop right there.”
When I stiffened my expression, Choi Junseo seemed to take a step back.
Up until this point, I thought the Seo Jungwoo issue had been settled.
But an incident occurred that shattered even the remaining trust I had.
It was past 10:00 PM.
It happened while I was waiting for the Gwangmyeong faction members to gather.
“S-Senior!”
When I arrived at the scene at Han Jiyoung’s call, the smell of blood was overwhelming.
With everyone in the room holding their breath, Seo Jungwoo lay there with his throat slit, his eyes wide open.
And standing over the pool of blood pooling on the floor was Choi Junseo, holding a greatsword with an indifferent expression.
Choi Junseo wiped the blood splatter from his cheek and looked at me.
Another unilateral action.
At that moment, the emotion I felt was rage.
“You son of a bitch!”
Thud—!
I kicked Choi Junseo away.
Even as he hit the wall and collapsed, there wasn't a hint of remorse in his eyes.
As I drew my greatsword, Kim Inbeom blocked me with his body.
“B-Brother! Wait a second! Please calm down and listen to what he has to say first!”
“Move. This is the second time. If I don’t discipline that bastard for acting on his own, the alliance will be finished before it even begins.”
This wasn't just an expression of anger; it was my duty as a leader.
When I pushed Kim Inbeom aside, he tried to block me again.
But this time, Han Jiyoung blocked Kim Inbeom, not me.
“The Senior will handle it, so don’t you step in.”
“Even so, we shouldn’t be doing this to each other!”
“Just shut up and stay out of it.”
Choi Giseop and the Gwangmyeong faction members didn’t seem to have any intention of intervening in the first place.
They probably just meant to follow my will.
This is exactly why Choi Giseop and Choi Junseo are different.
“Hey.”
“…….”
I pressed the tip of my greatsword under Choi Junseo’s chin.
Instead of being scared, the guy just stared straight at me.
That look made my anger flare up even more.
“I told you to leave it alone for now.”
“If I did, you would die, Hunter.”
“Didn’t I say I don’t believe in that high-and-mighty fortune-telling?”
“Seo Jungwoo would have escaped here and gone to the Strike Force. Then they would have swarmed here.”
“There’s no basis for your words. It ends with you just saying the General told you so.”
“I couldn’t just ignore what I saw. Because if you live, Hunter, our Captain lives.”
“What?”
What is he saying right now?
Captain? Could he mean Im Jongchan?
“There is only one reason why I am trying to keep you alive, Hunter.”
“……You.”
Was the reason he joined Osori because of Im Jongchan?
Or maybe he’s lying to get out of a crisis.
Because he knows I can’t do anything if he brings up Jongchan.
“Ha.”
If that was his strategy, it worked perfectly.
Like it or not, Im Jongchan is a precious comrade to me.
I can’t kill the subordinate who was Jongchan’s right-hand man with my own hands.
“…Be grateful to Jongchan. That guy saved you.”
“No. You should be grateful to me, Hunter.”
Talking back until the end.
Just as my irritation was about to explode, Han Jiyoung was one beat faster.
“This bastard still hasn’t come to his senses and is running his mouth?”
Instead of me, Han Jiyoung ran over and slapped Choi Junseo across the cheek.
Seeing her glance at me, it seemed she thought this would keep the situation from escalating.
‘She’s become more perceptive.’
I let it slide, pretending not to notice, if only for Han Jiyoung’s effort.
I wouldn’t kill him right now, but I couldn’t just let someone who disobeyed the Alliance Leader’s orders go unpunished.
“Effective immediately, you are excluded from the alliance. Whether you go back to the Osori shelter or find your own way to survive, that’s up to you.”
“…….”
Choi Junseo didn’t refuse and, unexpectedly, followed orders obediently.
He stood up without a word and bowed his head to me.
It was a posture so polite that it was hard to believe he was the same guy who had been talking back just a moment ago.
“Hunter.”
Choi Junseo, who was about to head outside, suddenly turned his back.
Did he change his mind, or did he have something left to say?
“Discard what is most precious to you, Hunter. Only then will you not lose the things that are truly precious.”
Choi Junseo said something out of the blue.
As if he were giving me one last fortune.
That was the last image of Choi Junseo I remembered.
He left without lingering, but I had a feeling I would meet him again in the near future.
Around lunchtime the next day, all members of the Gwangmyeong faction assembled.
Just as Choi Giseop said, in less than 24 hours, a total of 57 people, including myself and my party, were gathered in the gymnasium.
“This person is Brother Lee Cheon-il! From now on, he is the big brother we must serve and our Alliance Leader. Everyone, pay your respects!”
“We look forward to your leadership! Brother!”
Since I’m the type who dislikes cumbersome things, I didn’t hold any special inauguration ceremony.
The alliance formation I had so desperately wanted ended short and sweet with Choi Giseop’s introduction and his subordinates’ repetition.
“By the way, you’re saying all these people were south of the river?”
“Brother, please speak comfortably. The kids would want that too.”
“Let’s do that. I heard all the bridges going south were blown up, so how did you get across?”
When I asked, Choi Giseop jumped up and called one of his subordinates.
“Hojae, come here.”
“Yes, Brother!”
“Answer everything the Big Brother is curious about. You must tell him everything, even the trivial details.”
“Understood, Brother!”
The more I see them, the more fascinating these people are.
Instruction and obedience.
They seem like people who only have those two things in their brains.
“What did you say your name was?”
“It’s Lee Hojae, Brother!”
“Let’s not call me Brother, just Alliance Leader.”
“Yes, Alliance Leader!”
Lee Hojae maintained a rigid posture and stared into my eyes.
It seemed Choi Giseop managed the north side of the river, and Lee Hojae managed the south side to keep the family in check.
That meant he was the number two of the Gwangmyeong faction.
“How did you cross the river?”
“We have one rubber boat. It can hold about 10 people at a time, so we did the grunt work of going back and forth.”
“How many shelters are there in the south?”
“I know of four places. They are small-scale, with about twenty people each, and I haven’t seen any large-scale shelters like Gusan yet.”
Even though we didn’t share many words, I could feel something.
They looked like typical back-alley thugs, but there was something quite sharp about them.
Above all, the calloused, rough hands and the scars visible all over their forearms looked like medals of experience.
“How do you guys fight zombies?”
“We wear protective gear on our limbs, which are easy to get bitten, and smash their heads with tools.”
“What about guns or knives?”
“Sashimi knives are too short to use against zombies, and guns have poor accuracy and we don’t have bullets, so we usually prefer tools.”
“Like wooden sticks or baseball bats?”
“Steel pipes are sturdy and have a good grip.”
There is no weapon more efficient than guns and knives in anti-zombie warfare, but there was no need to force it.
Because every individual has a weapon that suits them.
However, I was curious about their combat ability.
“How many family members have been sacrificed?”
“Except for the early days, not a single one. Back then, we weren’t prepared, so we got hit.”
“You mean not a single person has died since then?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
Oh. Is that so?
This makes me even more curious.
“I want to see your skills once.”
“We will prepare immediately!”
The Gwangmyeong faction began putting on their protective gear in an orderly fashion.
The protective gear was a self-made form of thin iron plates woven with leather straps, and for weapons, they just held one steel pipe in their hand and strapped another to their back.
“We are ready, Alliance Leader!”
“Let’s go out.”
“Yes!”
The thugs headed outside at high speed and formed a sharp formation.
The sight of them following me in a swarm looked just like a scene from a movie.
“There they are.”
After walking for a bit, I saw five or six zombies.
I thought they would shout ‘Let’s go!’ and charge out, but surprisingly, they maintained their formation.
‘Do they have their own unique combat style?’
It didn’t seem like they were fighting recklessly.
Soon, as the zombies approached, the Gwangmyeong faction stopped walking, and only the members in the front row raised their steel pipes over their shoulders.
Thud! Thud!
With a dull sound, the zombies’ heads were blown off.
It was a bit surprising that they fought so calmly, but even so, they were just five or six walking zombies.
I was curious how they would handle large-scale zombies or runners, but a suitable opponent happened to be approaching.
‘Three runners.’
Their stance changed from before.
The members in the front row held both ends of the steel pipe to make it horizontal, and the members in the second row raised their pipes over their shoulders.
“…!”
The first row intentionally made the zombies bite the pipe to slow them down, and the second row smashed their heads.
It was a tactic that would be absolutely impossible without absolute trust in each other and tremendous courage.
“……Is this how you fight?”
“Yes, zombies try to bite what they see in front of them, so we use that habit.”
“What about when dealing with a large scale?”
“As long as we maintain the formation, we can handle quite a large scale. If we utilize the terrain, we can overcome numerical inferiority.”
“You’re like Spartan elite soldiers.”
“We were inspired by that movie and trained accordingly.”
Choi Giseop said nonchalantly.
It was probably from this moment on.
That the Gwangmyeong faction members started to look different.
No, I should call them alliance members now.
“It’s a problem that I like them even more.”
It’s a pity I couldn’t gather more shelters, but it seems I’ve gained some quite capable guys.