Chapter 33
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: The Fastest Persuasion Method (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Kang Sang-chul, former detective of the 4th Team and current team leader of Disaster Response Team 2, was incredibly irritated right now.
‘Our precinct has an owner now?’
What kind of bolt from the blue nonsense was this?
Songpa Police Station was the place where he had poured his blood, sweat, and tears—where he had devoted his entire youth.
Yet here he was, standing before what was like his holy ground, unable to take even a single step forward.
Something opaque was blocking their entry.
[Entry to ‘Songpa Base Camp (1)’ is restricted. Camp leader’s permission is required for access.]
Every time they tried to go in, that system message popped up, bouncing him and his team back.
According to Sung Dong-gil sunbae, who had come out to greet them, the person who had become the owner of this place was unconscious, so they had no choice but to wait outside.
‘No, why the hell can’t I enter my own home?’
No matter how messed up the world had become, this was a national institution carrying out state affairs, and they were civil servants entrusted with those duties.
If there was an owner to the building, shouldn’t it be them?
He simply couldn’t accept some unheard-of person popping up out of nowhere and claiming ownership of the precinct.
‘I should’ve stuck to what the chief said.’
Right after the rift had spewed out the swarm of bees, the chief had strong-armed them—not quite forcefully, but enough—into leaving the station.
Knowing how much the chief cherished them, he had given up his stubborn resolve to stay and see it through with him, instead leading the precinct’s people to watch the situation from nearby.
If he had valued his own life that much, he wouldn’t have stayed here after the ‘apocalypse’ hit.
He took pride in himself and his colleagues, who contributed to the nation and its people, and he loved Songpa Station, their stronghold.
That one reason alone had kept him fighting tooth and nail in this ruined world.
‘And yet, Songpa Police Station….’
It had fallen into the hands of some civilian.
Kang Sang-chul, who loved Songpa Station more than anyone, couldn’t fathom what was going on.
He was grinding his teeth, ready to confront this so-called new owner.
‘Sorry, but I can’t hand over Songpa Station.’
If that guy stubbornly refused to yield it…. Kang was prepared to use a certain degree of force.
This wasn’t a place for a private individual to own—it was a national institution, a beacon of hope where other survivors could gather….
At that moment.
Swish—
A hand passed through the opaque barrier.
‘Has that owner woken up?’
As that thought crossed his mind, Sung Dong-gil sunbae and his team members were rushing toward the entrance with joyful faces.
“Hey! Kang Sang-chul. Come on in! The team leader’s waiting!”
‘Team leader? This tough sunbae is calling that guy team leader?’
He was puzzled by Dong-gil sunbae’s words and the way his team members seemed to tacitly agree.
Those guys from Disaster Response Team 1 were the heavy hitters from the detective division—handling only the roughest jobs like murders, gang crackdowns, and hostage situations.
They had immense pride in their work, and even superiors they didn’t respect got ignored on the regular.
‘Unless he’s got some dirt on them—’
Otherwise, there was no way those guys would act like that toward some random civilian.
‘I trust only what I see with my own eyes.’
Constantly suspecting suspects and building cases solely on visible evidence was his occupational hazard—and his instinct.
That was why he had to keep watching and doubting that guy on behalf of those blinded fools.
‘This Kang Sang-chul isn’t some pushover.’
As he followed Dong-gil’s guidance inside, Kang reminded himself once more of his role and the responsibility he carried.
* * *
Even after cleaning it spotless, the chief’s office still faintly smelled of bee innards.
It wasn’t a small room, but with Min-jun, So-hee, Dong-gil, Kang Sang-chul, and his three Team 2 members crammed in, the reception table couldn’t seat them all.
So only Min-jun, Dong-gil, So-hee, and Kang Sang-chul sat in the table chairs, while the Disaster Response Team 2 members stood behind him, arms crossed and scowling menacingly.
It looked threatening to anyone watching, and Dong-gil noticed, starting to say something before holding his tongue.
‘These stubborn bastards. They won’t come around until they taste shit from bean paste.’
Instead of scolding them, Dong-gil decided to focus on playing middleman.
“Team leader, this is my junior and the leader of Disaster Response Team 2, Kang Sang-chul. And Sang-chul, this young man is Lee Min-jun—the one who saved me and the rest of Team 1 and kept this Songpa Station from turning into those earth bees’ nest.”
Min-jun stood from his seat, offering a handshake as he spoke.
“Hello. I’m Lee Min-jun.”
Kang Sang-chul stared at the hand from his seat with a displeased look before opening his mouth.
“Hey there. Kang Sang-chul. The handshake… skip it. World’s too rough these days—too many weirdos around.”
“Hey! Kang Sang-chul, you little shit!”
“It’s fine.”
Dong-gil bristled at his junior’s overstep, but Min-jun stopped him. He awkwardly lowered his hand and sat back down.
Kang Sang-chul observed the scene closely.
‘If he’d snapped, I could’ve flipped the table on that excuse, but he’s calmer than I thought.’
On the way up to the chief’s office, Dong-gil and Team 1 had drilled it into his ears: be grateful, don’t be rude.
But Kang trusted only his own eyes. Especially when it came to ‘people’ in this hellish world.
He glanced back at his team. Where there should’ve been five, only three remained, standing with arms crossed.
‘Yoon-gi, Ho-cheol….’
His direct junior and the maknae. They’d been killed not by apostles, but by humans.
Even in the old world, people joked that humans were scarier than ghosts.
But in this broken world, those smiling faces approaching to ‘help,’ only to stab you in the back, were far more terrifying than the bizarre apostles.
‘I won’t get fooled again. Once is enough for stupid mistakes.’
As Kang lost himself in those thoughts, Min-jun addressed him.
“I heard you went to Garak Market. Could you tell me about the situation there?”
To Kang, it sounded like a vile hook.
Vowing not to get pulled into the guy’s pace, he shot back aggressively.
“Can’t tell an outsider like you. Anyway… saw in the system message you’re listed as the owner here. That right?”
Min-jun frowned at Kang’s casual switch to informal speech but answered straightforwardly.
“…Yes. Why?”
“You need to hand that position over to us. You know this building’s a police station, right? It’s not some pushover spot a civilian can just claim.”
“Hey! About that, I—”
“Stay out of it, sunbae. We’re still talking.”
Dong-gil tried to butt in furiously, but Kang’s team members grabbed his shoulders and sat him back down.
Kang continued, watching the scene.
“Let’s keep this nice and civil, yeah? Protecting citizens is my job, but if you keep being stubborn, we’ll have to treat you not as some innocent civilian, but as a criminal.”
“…”
Min-jun listened silently to Kang Sang-chul.
It must have been insulting, but his expression remained even.
If anything, So-hee beside him looked anxious, worried it might explode.
After a few seconds of silence, Min-jun finally spoke.
“So, what you’re saying is, since I have no connection to this place, I should step down as camp leader and leave quietly?”
“Glad my intent came across clear.”
“Then, let me ask one thing.”
The air in the chief’s office suddenly chilled. Min-jun’s presence made everyone shrink back, but they dismissed it as a mere cold snap and focused on his words.
“What were you doing when the rift opened?”
“Ha! Gonna chew us out for leaving? Sure, we wanted to stay! But we’re a chain-of-command outfit. The chief’s orders—”
“If you’re just gonna spew bullshit, shut it. When you left on the chief’s orders, didn’t you foresee he’d sacrifice himself?”
“Sometimes you gotta sacrifice the few for the many! We were saving civilians in crisis—”
“Saving civilians…. So you didn’t predict what would happen to Team 1 trapped inside the rift? If you can’t even save your comrades, who the hell can you save? No—let me rephrase. So who did you save?”
“That’s…”
“I heard you left on the chief’s orders but didn’t go far, just lingered around here. How many people nearby did you save, and how?”
“…”
“What exactly did you do for others? I went into the rift, saved Team 1, and stopped this station from becoming a bug den. Don’t I have the right to be here?”
“We… We’ve served here for over ten years, protecting this place! You think one little stunt this time means you can talk big, you punk?!”
Min-jun ignored the shouting Kang and looked at Dong-gil.
Dong-gil’s face was dark with worry.
“Team leader…. He’s just stubborn like that. I’ll talk him down.”
“Do the other teams think the same about me?”
“…”
Dong-gil’s silence was agreement.
Min-jun let out a deep sigh. Dong-gil, now truly family, would stay here, so this place—where he had nowhere else to go—felt like home.
But if the household rejected him, he’d either kick them out or make them his own.
For Dong-gil’s sake, he decided to try the latter.
At that moment, Kang stood and reached to grab Min-jun’s collar.
“Hey! We’re not done talk—”
Bam!
Min-jun grabbed his hand and slammed it hard onto the table.
The table splintered in half, sending Kang crashing to the floor.
Min-jun stood, dusted off his hands, and said to Dong-gil.
“Uncle, call all the other team members to the parking lot. I have something to say.”
“Whew…. Team leader, just promise me one thing. Go easy.”
“Of course. They’re about to become family, after all.”
Min-jun grinned in response.
Talking? A good method.
But when guys clashed opinions, sometimes a physical conversation hit the spot—and Min-jun, who’d gone through all-boys middle and high school, knew it well.
Sure, exceptions existed, but usually, mixing it up once created camaraderie where there was none.
To persuade them, Min-jun chose a simple, effective way.
Only So-hee shook her head and clicked her tongue at the sight.