Chapter 111
Chapter 111
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 111
Chapter Title: Battle Royale - 1
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Na and I were still staying on Ganghwa Island.
Because we didn't know when the Battle Royale event would happen.
We couldn't pinpoint the exact date, but from the videos we'd confirmed, it was definitely around this time.
Instead of moving elsewhere, I set three goals.
The first was securing enough food.
Our stockpiles had dwindled quite a bit since we'd only been consuming them.
Of course, combining all the food in the cave would keep us safe for at least a few years.
But I had this obsession-like compulsion to replenish what we'd used up.
Only when the shelter's supplies were perfectly stocked did my mind finally ease.
The second was expanding the shelter.
With gasoline still left, there was no reason to hesitate on expansion anymore.
To be precise, without expanding the shelter, stockpiling more supplies was difficult.
We'd tossed some rice, but oil drums had filled those spots completely.
If you looked at the clearing outside the cave now, it was total chaos with oil drums.
Satisfying, but stacking them up to 3 meters high was a bit much.
Finally, we needed to explore the northern mountain piled with eternal snow.
Because both the map from the dungeon and the ore veins the beetles had pointed out converged there.
Da-jeong didn't cling to me and handled her own tasks.
To win over the beetles, she swept through every mart in Ganghwa-eup farming jelly.
Hearing me say there were lots of icefish, she went out to the front sea and caught some.
Her method was pretty ingenious.
She confirmed where the icefish were schooling, then had a ghoul swim over and cast a net.
She proudly brought back dozens and said this.
"You said we need to secure food, right? I'll handle that, so just process them."
"You're such a cool woman."
"You just figured that out now?"
I took the icefish into the cave, gutted them, and vacuum-packed them.
Da-jeong looked at the packaged icefish in amazement.
"Packing them like this makes them last a long time?"
"Bury them in the ground and they'll last a few weeks. If we can't eat them all, sell 'em at the auction house."
"So that's how you save up points... You're really thrifty."
You have to save to live well.
While Da-jeong headed out farming again, I tried expanding the shelter with my equipment.
Cutting trees with the chainsaw, digging with the mini excavator, then moving the barbed wire—a tedious process.
If I'd done all this manually, I'd be bedridden.
"Having plenty of fuel sure is nice."
The excavator's roar echoed through the forest all day.
Thanks to that, more monsters came to watch my clumsy work.
Why are there so many monsters in this forest?
It seemed like the abundance let others fill any vacancies quickly.
And why the vacancies?
Because I killed every one I saw.
With the beetles focused on making bullets, Dingo, Dingsuni, and I handled defense.
The two of them drew the monsters' attention outside while I fired arrows and the ballista.
Sometimes when a gap appeared, the two silver wolves charged in and tore the monsters apart.
"Good job!"
I installed the remaining barbed wire to make it two layers deep, 2x2.
Rusted here and there, it looked even more vicious.
Ordinary monsters couldn't approach, and even orcs found it burdensome.
"The problem is they act pretty intelligently..."
Once, an orc tried using a goblin corpse to climb over the barbed wire.
Of course, its clumsy attempt got it impaled on the wire, but it was a tense moment anyway.
My shelter's defense relied heavily on the barbed wire, so a breach would leave me helpless.
"Should I just build walls..."
I had plenty of cement and bricks stocked, so stacking them up wouldn't be an issue.
Building 3-meter walls behind the barbed wire would be perfect.
The problem was that it would severely limit visibility.
Even with holes, responding to monster movements would be tough, and above all, I'd lose the beautiful forest views.
It wasn't a full-on country house, but watching the changing scenery morning and evening felt healing somehow.
"Nah, better not."
They say when you're torn between doing or not, it's best not to.
Especially for me, since it's hard to undo.
No one to help, so I had to be cautious.
I expanded the shelter over two days.
Thanks to that, the roughly 200-pyeong space grew to about 300 pyeong.
"More space is nice, but we'll get more attacks too."
Now, with the beetles making bullets, we'd have to defend with guns.
Dingo and Dingsuni seemed thrilled with the bigger shelter, running around wildly.
Good timing.
I went into the cave to check on the beetles' work.
"Whoa..."
It was nearly complete.
The leader beetle was assembling the primers and bullet heads into the casings.
What was amazing was that they'd even made a custom clamp for assembly.
No need to hold them—just clamp, twist and adjust the position, and assemble.
"Truly impressive."
The leader beetle assembled the bullets with utmost care.
It put the bullet head in a wooden case and tapped it firmly into the casing with a small hammer.
Checking the scattered wooden cases nearby, I saw grooves longer than the bullet heads.
"To keep the tip from getting crushed. Smart."
These guys were definitely artisans.
They grasped the bullet structure and immediately applied it.
Finally, what was completed were bullets for the revolver.
I only had one Tokarev and one K2 each, but two revolvers.
If a dud came up, I could toss it.
It'd hurt, though.
The leader beetle brought the finished bullets.
"Since you made them, I'll trust 'em."
The group scratched their heads together.
They'd made them, but weren't confident they'd fire properly.
Everyone starts somewhere.
I put the beetles on my shoulders and headed out of the cave.
"Spin like this and shoot..."
I'd only used the K2 and Tokarev here, so revolver was new.
Fortunately, the bullets fit perfectly in the chambers.
Not loose or tight—like dressing in perfectly tailored clothes.
"Good."
I aimed the revolver at a tree.
The beetles on my shoulders simultaneously covered their heads.
Blocking their ears, maybe?
Makes sense—they understand speech, so ears too.
Unconsciously, I pulled the trigger.
Bang!
A roar, and the tree thudded with splinters flying.
Success.
I opened the cylinder, pushed the ejector rod, and hot spent casings clinked to the ground.
Yes!
The beetles danced wildly on my shoulders.
"Wow, you guys are amazing."
I'd hoped, but real bullets? Unreal.
They must've gone through countless trials I didn't know about.
"You did great. Really, good job."
I loaded the beetles who'd pulled off this feat with plenty of food.
Super hyped, they did their butt dances.
Now I could get the most crucial bullets supplied.
Handmade by the beetles, so quantity limited, but possibility mattered.
The barely calmed leader beetle indicated clip format supply.
With those clips, no single-loading—just slam and ready.
I asked shamelessly.
"Daily output?"
Leader pondered, then spread three claws.
3 rounds.
Seems small, but accumulates no matter what I do. Satisfactory enough.
"30 in ten days."
Then the leader cautiously drew a picture.
Beetles trapped behind bars, rescue scene.
"Other beetles out there?"
Nod nod.
Why now...
No.
Maybe thought build trust first.
Now contributing, figured I'd accept.
I'd have anyway—did I lack trust expression?
"Alright. We'll rescue together. But not now. Busy."
After Battle Royale, heading to Seoul.
Da-jeong insisting my level-up first.
The beetles seemed plenty satisfied, swarming to express thanks.
With butt dances.
Enough already...
.
.
.
Comments poured in like crazy, but no one believed anyone would actually join.
Auction house was always ground zero for bullshit, and no one treated life lightly.
Rewards would be insane proportional to risk, but unknown since no one's won first.
Only three knew.
"...One of them is me. I won the first Battle Royale."
"Ah... I see..."
The man and woman looked at Baegum-in with eyes full of respect.
Low levels, they didn't grasp world events well.
Post-apocalypse, survival-focused, no special hunts.
Met Baegum-in in Incheon, slight misunderstanding, but resolved luckily.
According to him, he was the guide distributor, now in government shelter.
The woman asked Geom-in.
"Th-then, can we enter the government shelter too?"
"It'll be tough. Needs an introduction. Government place, lots of secrets... you get it?"
Geom-in lowered his voice; man and woman exchanged looks and nodded.
They'd survived decently so far.
But no confidence for future.
Powerful monsters everywhere—could they keep dodging?
While worrying, met Geom-in; he introduced government shelter.
Safe spot for president and VIPs!
Man and woman wanted in.
"H-how can we get in? If you introduce us, Geom-in-ssi..."
"Need some trust between us first? Not life-or-death, but 'this guy's reliable' level."
Not hard.
Three traveled together, hunted, ate same meals.
Surprised Geom-in weaker than expected, but "only 30% power" shocked more.
"To survive this world, hide 70% of your strength."
Sung-ho would've scoffed, but he said it boldly.
Copy trait, no more business anyway.
Man and woman admired his knowledge over strength, truly wanted to survive together.
Traits Marksmanship and Binding appeared in his status window.
Regretted not getting Griffon's Eye skill then.
'Good enough.'
Geom-in Blinked out of their sight.
Slightly bothered abandoning them instantly, but unavoidable self-justification.
Lucky not killed in apocalypse world?
'Not government shelter material anyway.'
City-to-city needs serious skill and luck.
Impossible for those two from start.
His prodding had responsibility, but fooled in apocalypse is their fault.
Shook off unease, checked Incheon map.
'Enter battlefield near the Chinese guys.'
They know nothing.
Traits barely familiar, no guides or anything.
Last victor among them wouldn't be hard.
Problem: other Koreans...
'Tokgong's gone, Da-jeong's the issue.'
Couldn't pinpoint her location.
Why didn't Jang Won-taek mention such key info? Fuming.
Met Kimbap Lover?
Worst case.
Geom-in crumpled the map.
Even if met, low chance staying Incheon.
'Probably to Seoul.'
No sightings in auction = en route.
Kimbap Lover could prep like him for Battle Royale...
'No, won't be.'
If so, not nearby.
Geom-in smoothed the map.
Yeongjongdo seemed better.
'Chinese presence annoying but...'
Lowbie zone activity made him chuckle.
Maybe snag a pretty girl.
'Language barrier none anyway.'
Decided.
Geom-in island-hopped via Blink to Yeongjongdo.
And around the same time.
Sung-ho and Da-jeong discovered a dimension gate on Ganghwa-eup outskirts.
Da-jeong had no intent to join anyway, so just spectate.
Checked inside, came out, told Sung-ho—his expression weirded out.
"Wasn't there snow on top? Lake south?"
"Yeah. Know the place?"
"Yeah. Near my shelter."
"...For real?"
Da-jeong tried re-entering, rejected, kicked with high heel.
"Open up quick! Hurry!"
Of course, dimension gate didn't budge.
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