Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator : M.N 1391
Title: We Have to Settle Accounts
Chapter: 23
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The hardware store old man’s expression and tone were brimming with confidence.
At that, not only Dae-shik but also Hyena and Juhun waited for the next words to fall from the man’s lips.
“So, what’s your ability, sir?”
Hyena asked, her eyes sparkling like a child’s.
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
But the old man wasn’t so easily swayed(?).
“Men who are too easy aren’t attractive, y’know.”
After showing off his charm for a moment, the old man turned his gaze back to Dae-shik, leaving behind the bewildered Hyena and Juhun.
“We ought to clean up, shouldn’t we? Feels like the story’s slowed down ‘cause of me.”
At that, Dae-shik chuckled faintly and turned his head to look at the Fatty.
He had thought the old man was no ordinary person since the hardware store, but he was clearly beyond unusual.
“Let’s settle our accounts, shall we?”
At that chilling remark, the Fatty turned pale and dropped flat on the floor.
His collarbone must have been broken, so the pain must’ve been severe, but his fear of Dae-shik clearly overwhelmed it.
“S-, spare me, please!”
Without a word, Dae-shik walked around near the holding cell, checking for any survivors.
The people inside were already either turned into zombies or dead bodies strewn across the floor.
The only survivors were the hardware store old man and Ji-hyuk. And if they’d been even a little later, the old man would have been a cold corpse as well.
‘I guessed as much... but not even one person left alive, huh.’
The reason Dae-shik had suspected that was simple.
While he was saving the old man, no one had shouted to be freed.
‘If anyone had been alive, they would’ve cried for help, no doubt.’
He could roughly piece together how things had gone.
When the Fatty and Magpie-Eyes took over the police station, there must’ve been a fight with the cops. Most of the resisting officers would have been killed or injured.
The dead were obvious, and there was no way these guys who beat up even the living would’ve treated wounded enemies.
“Alright, got it.”
Dae-shik said calmly as he looked over the corpses inside the holding cell, then slowly walked toward the Fatty.
“I’ll grant you one last mercy. So tell me where you keep the weapons and the food. And hand over the keys.”
“R-, really?”
At those words, Juhun suddenly sprang to his feet, looking like he had something to say.
All the officers inside the station had been slaughtered by that guy—how could he let him live?
“Officer.”
Just then, the hardware store old man grabbed Juhun’s shoulder.
“Stay put.”
“How could you…”
“I said stay put, boy. He’s got his reasons for doin’ it that way.”
* * *
After that, Dae-shik’s group followed the Fatty’s lead to the cafeteria.
Inside the kitchen, food ingredients and preserved provisions were piled high. It looked like they’d raided nearby homes and convenience stores.
But the amount of edible food was far less than expected.
Due to poor management, the vegetables had wilted or rotted, and the only salvageable items were rice, preserved goods, and a few side dishes already cooked.
“Look at these bastards’ food management… what a disaster…”
Dae-shik let out a deep sigh, as though his heart were breaking.
He couldn’t believe they’d treated such precious supplies so carelessly.
“Hyena, Mr. Lee Juhun, can you two separate what’s still good to eat from what’s not?”
At his words, both nodded immediately.
“I’ll go check the armory.”
Then, Dae-shik naturally took the old man, Ji-hyuk, and the Fatty with him toward where the weapons were stored.
“Uh… you’re gonna let me live now, right?”
As he opened the armory door, the Fatty spoke nervously, glancing at Dae-shik.
He’d done everything asked, used zombies to make it easier for Hyena to capture them, handed over food and weapons. And even without a paralysis mage, his zombie-control ability was quite useful. No, actually, he was the main act. That skinny guy was only his support.
And most importantly, hadn’t Dae-shik just said he’d show mercy?
Desperately, the Fatty tried to persuade him.
“You don’t have any strong fighters, right…? If I’m around, things’ll go a lot more smoo—”
But he never got to finish his sentence.
“Guhk…”
Instead of words, the only sound that came out was the air leaking from his throat.
“Uh… uh uh…”
Caught off guard by the sudden killing, Ji-hyuk’s legs gave out and he collapsed on the spot.
He hadn’t imagined Dae-shik would kill someone so mercilessly and without warning.
“Your gun.”
Dae-shik, his face expressionless, stretched out his hand toward Ji-hyuk.
Terrified, Ji-hyuk trembled all over as he handed over his handgun.
“You one of their crew?”
“N-, no, absolutely not!”
“Yeah. I figured as much.”
Truthfully, Dae-shik had already guessed Ji-hyuk wasn’t one of them. His reaction when he’d heard that Fatty and Magpie-Eyes were taken down had been too mild.
No shock, no anger, no attempt to resist, he’d just knelt. But there was still a need to confirm it.
“Hm.”
As expected, the handgun didn’t even have blanks loaded.
If Fatty and Magpie-Eyes had trusted him even a little, they’d have given him real bullets to stand guard.
What use is a guard with an empty gun?
It meant they’d planned to use him as bait all along.
Of course, that didn’t necessarily mean he could be trusted either.
Fatty was a rapist, Magpie-Eyes was a robber and attempted murderer. Who knew what crime this one had committed?
So Dae-shik moved to the final step of confirmation.
“Well, alright. But why were you here in the first place? What’s your charge?”
“I-I-It’s just… I was drunk, fell asleep, and when I woke up I was in the police station.”
“What?”
Dae-shik repeated in disbelief.
“I-It’s true!”
According to his explanation, while he was locked up in the station, the zombie outbreak suddenly began, and Fatty and Magpie-Eyes had used him as a guard.
It was such an absurd story that both Dae-shik and the old man were at a loss for words.
Too pitiful to be a lie, almost believable because of how pathetic it sounded.
‘Well, the timeline fits, at least…’
A drunk passed out wouldn’t resist anyone. So he hadn’t fought any zombies or been hurt, and that’s how he’d survived while all the others died.
“Haa… fine. Come with me.”
Dae-shik sighed wearily.
He was used to killing people. Not that it was something to boast about, but there probably wasn’t a soul left on Earth who’d killed more people than he had. That didn’t mean he enjoyed it, or killed without reason, or felt no guilt afterward.
He could kill whenever necessary, but he didn’t want to live with the uneasy feeling that he might’ve killed an innocent. That was the last line he’d drawn to convince himself he wasn’t just a murderer.
“Wow…”
The moment he stepped into the armory, Dae-shik couldn’t help but let out a gasp.
“Holy moly…”
The old man, too, looked around in awe.
Only Ji-hyuk was too scared to even exclaim.
“Are armories usually stocked like this?”
Dae-shik asked, wide-eyed as he looked around.
“Beats me.”
The old man replied, gripping a rifle in his hand.
Instead of a few pistols and some bullets as Dae-shik had expected, the armory was filled with rifles and an enormous amount of ammunition.
“There’s no way we can carry all this.”
Dae-shik ran his hand along a rifle, murmuring.
Unpleasant memories briefly flickered in his mind, but the comfort a rifle gave him in this world was enough to wash that trauma away.
Still, there were far too many weapons.
No way five people could carry or even use them all.
‘I’ll have to think this through…’
Then, the old man grinned meaningfully.
“Too much for us to move, huh.”
That expression told Dae-shik the old man had a good idea.
“Sir… don’t tell me…”
“Ha! Sharp one, aren’t ya. That’s right, my ability’s Inventory!”
A bright smile spread across Dae-shik’s face as well.
A mobile warehouse.
An Inventory ability user was an incredibly valuable asset in an apocalypse, raising survival rates by severalfold. It wasn’t much help in combat, but as the saying goes, half of war is logistics.
In Achaia too, a well-developed Inventory user was considered precious manpower.
Still, there was one thing bothering him…
“So, how big’s your storage capacity?”
“Heh-heh… well, my level’s still kinda low… about this big.”
The old man gestured with both hands, drawing a square.
The space was roughly the size of an adult man’s torso.
“That’s… a bit small.”
“Now, now, don’t worry, it’ll get huge soon enough!”
Even so, that was more than enough for now.
Rifles could be carried by hand, and the space was big enough to store ammunition.
“Alright then, let’s start packing.”
Dae-shik and the old man gleefully began loading bullets into the Inventory, even gathering rifles for Hyena and Juhun.
Once the Inventory was full of bullets, Dae-shik turned toward Ji-hyuk with a question.
“You said your name was Kim Ji-hyuk, right? Have you awakened yet?”
“N-no, not yet…”
“Then how about being our porter for a while?”
Ji-hyuk was fairly tall and well-built, at least a head taller than Juhun or Dae-shik.
Juhun wasn’t suited for carrying loads. His ability was invisibility, what use was that if his cargo didn’t vanish with him?
And judging from how he’d dropped the weapon that killed Magpie-Eyes, things he held didn’t seem to turn invisible either.
Dae-shik himself couldn’t afford to haul stuff around, he was the main combatant.
“So, what’ll it be? You in or out? Can’t give you a gun though. I don’t trust you that much yet.”
Though it was a sudden job offer(?), Ji-hyuk nodded without hesitation.
He still feared Dae-shik after witnessing his ruthlessness.
But better to be “porter no.1” for the man who defeated villains than “gatekeeper no.1” threatened by them, right?
“Good. It’s settled. Let’s go eat. Stuff those bullets in there.”
Dae-shik pulled out a spare backpack from his own bag and tossed it lightly to Ji-hyuk.
* * *
When the three returned to the cafeteria, Hyena and Juhun had already finished sorting the edible and inedible foods.
“Mr. Dae-shik, that guy…?”
Seeing the Fatty gone, Juhun immediately asked.
“Killed him.”
Dae-shik answered curtly.
At that, Juhun silently nodded, and Hyena let out a soft sigh.
Being a doctor, she disliked death itself. But she wasn’t naive enough to oppose killing someone who’d tried to kill them.
At least she could be thankful Dae-shik had done it out of sight, that small consideration was probably for her sake.
So she made an effort to lift everyone’s spirits and greeted them cheerfully.
“Mr. Dae-shik! Look! Guess what we found!”
The moment he saw what she was pointing at, a bright smile spread across Dae-shik’s lips.
“That’s awesome.”
The old man and Ji-hyuk reacted the same way.