The Mansion Slayer
"Are you sure you can carry that?"
Jun-hyeok asked, his voice laced with concern. Even though his older brother was armed with a stab-proof tactical vest, a Glock 17, a machete, and a Commando Dagger, he was also burdened with a ground drone weighing twenty-five kilograms.
"I'm fine. I've carried a high schooler down this road before, and I didn't just walk it—I ran up it."
"Right, I guess you did."
Jun-hyeok felt a wave of relief as he remembered that his brother, Jun-ho, possessed strength and stamina that had long since surpassed human limits.
"Basically, Yeong-su—or rather, the AI—will be operating it autonomously from the control room. If that becomes difficult, you take over the controls. And try not to kill them if you can help it; don't forget to aim for their arms and legs."
Having already put the ground drone through several test runs, Jun-hyeok had no trouble with the controls.
"Okay. You be careful too, Hyung."
"Yeah."
Jun-hyeok, carrying the air rifle's hard case and spare air tanks, ran toward the pre-designated point with Purdy. Jun-ho, having finished rescuing the three high schoolers and the academy instructor, descended the mountain path he had never traveled before.
- Drone 01. Following resident Lee Jun-hyeok. No threats within surveillance range.
- Drone 03. Following Master Lee Jun-ho. No threats within surveillance range.
- Boss, the Hanchang Development thugs are almost at the back entrance of The First complex. It looks like they're trying to bypass and head toward the mart.
- Drone 05 is charging. In 20 minutes, it will swap with Drone 02, which is currently following the Elimination Target.
Listening to the reports from the AI Akina and Yun Yeong-su, Jun-ho sprinted down the mountain path at high speed. Within ten minutes, he reached the mountain trail that Han Chang-oh and his group had passed.
- Uh, Boss? The thugs are flying a drone. Wow, I have to give it to these thug guys, they're really high-tech, aren't they?
"What model?"
- Looks like a hobbyist model. Did they scavenge it from the townhouses? Ah, the person controlling it doesn't look like a thug; it seems to be one of the residents.
'A drone, huh....'
There was nothing to worry about. Most civilian drones sold in Korea had a programmed flight altitude limit of 150 meters. Even without that, the drone's own performance and sensor limitations made stable surveillance photography difficult at altitudes above 200 meters. Of course, if this were a high-end, high-performance drone, it would be a different story.
"Shoot it down."
- Roger that.
Ten seconds after the reply from Jun-hyeok, who had already reached the shooting point below the reservoir guard post, the drone flying toward The First Mart—a little ways off from the apartment complex—suddenly veered sharply in one direction and plummeted to the ground. Jun-ho, confirming the scene on the tablet attached to the reinforced plastic panel of his tactical vest, spoke.
"If the thugs attack the mart, use the ground drone to block their retreat."
- Copy that.
- As your wish, Master.
Hearing the voice of the shelter's AI Akina, which spoke the exact signature line of the AI from the game Eternal Galaxy, Jun-ho set down the ground attack drone, pulled up his bulletproof mask, and drew his machete.
"W-what the?"
The townhouse resident controlling the drone while staring at the LCD screen lifted his head in a panic. In the distance, the drone that had been flying toward the mart was spinning like a broken kite before falling.
"Ah, my drone. My drone is..."
"Why? What about the drone?"
"It suddenly crashed. It doesn't look like it collided with a bird... haa."
"Isn't it just because it's a cheap Chinese-made one?"
"What are you talking about! Chinese-made is the best for commercial drones. That thing cost over 500,000 won..."
"Well, what can you do? Let's check if we can find it and fix it later. Anyway, how was what you saw before it crashed? Did you get anything?"
As a real estate development company that also dabbled in construction and architecture, Hanchang Development handled everything from terrace and sunroom construction to lawn work for the Gahyeon-ri townhouses. Therefore, the employee who was familiar with the townhouse residents communicated with these residents who had come forward cooperatively before he had to resort to force.
"There was one person on the roof of the mart. I didn't see any zombies nearby. I saw about four or five people inside the second-floor window, but I don't know if they were people or zombies."
"Well, if there are a few on the first floor too... that's still less than 10 people, right?"
"Maybe. Or maybe the others are hiding in a safe place inside the mart."
"Understood. Manager? Manager Han?"
- Yeah. Speak.
The employee relayed what he had just heard to Han Chang-oh via radio.
- Good. So there are no zombies there? Then you guys approach it openly from that side. Damn it, let's see how they react. In the meantime, we'll bypass them, pick the back door, and go in.
"Understood, good luck."
Although he was short-tempered and cursed constantly, Han Chang-oh wasn't the type to avoid difficult tasks. Whenever his older brother and company boss, Han Chang-sik, gave an order, he was the one to take the lead. Today, he was personally in charge of the most dangerous job: entering the mart.
"Alright, everyone."
The men, who had been staring at The First Mart with tense eyes at the employee's words, turned their attention to him.
"First, let's go in and see how they react. There are no zombies around, so don't be too scared. That mart runs on solar power, so most of the food in the fridges and freezers should be perfectly fine, right?"
"......!"
At the mention of groceries, the men's faces began to brighten.
"Whatever you take today is for you and your families to eat. So we have to work hard, right? In this fucked-up world, you heads of households have to be strong to feed your families. Don't you agree?"
"That's right!"
"That's why we came out!"
"Let's go!"
The employee watched the men, who were waving their weapons in the air, with satisfaction.
'As expected, our big brother—no, our Boss—has a brilliant mind.'
Feeling proud of himself for repeating what Han Chang-sik had said without missing a single syllable, he raised his voice.
"Alright then, let's go!"
"S-someone is coming from the mountain! There look to be about ten of them!"
The man on the roof of The First Mart—which was very spacious despite being only two stories—raised his voice into the radio.
- People? Who are they? What kind of people?
"Ah, damn it, I don't know. They're all carrying weapons. Huh? Is that a bow? They're carrying bows too!"
- Bows!?
"Yes! You know, hunting bows! Anyway, one of them is carrying a bow!"
- Damn! I'm coming up now!
Soon, three men climbed up to the roof of the mart. The men, armed with spears made of sharpened pipes, machetes, and a crossbow, were all wearing long-sleeved leather jackets or tough, durable hiking gear, complete with safety helmets and masks.
"Over there! Over there!"
The man guarding the roof pointed in one direction. The man in the black mask checked that direction with the mart's toy binoculars and muttered under his breath.
"Ah, damn it... we're screwed."
"Dae-woo's dad, why? Are they strange people?"
"I don't know. But they're all heavily armed. By the way... damn, that's a real bow used abroad. Where did those bastards get that?"
"Where? Let me see too."
Passing the binoculars to someone else, the man in his mid-to-late 30s, called Dae-woo's dad, looked around at his colleagues.
"It looks like they're coming here to loot. Judging by the direction they're coming from, they seem to be people from the detached houses or the townhouses."
"Then what should we do? Should we try to talk to them first?"
"Damn it all. Talk? With bastards who come secretly carrying knives and bows? Let's just take them out first. We can just catch one or two and ask them questions, right?"
"Ah, and what if the rest of them swarm us? Even the people from Edu Town are eyeing this place, how are we supposed to defend it ourselves?"
"That's why we'll just take them out as they come..."
"Alright, alright. Just calm down for a second."
Dae-woo's dad, who had stopped his colleagues, lowered his mask and continued.
"Since there are about ten of them, I'll go out the back door with Yun-seok's father and use the crossbow..."
"We're screwed! There are more of those bastards!"
"What!?"
Dae-woo's dad and the other men turned their heads simultaneously.
"There! They're bypassing us right now!"
The moment the man looking through the binoculars pointed, they saw five fully armed men just turning around the mart parking lot and approaching the back door.
Twang!
"Argh! Damn it!"
The man whose safety helmet had been knocked off by something collapsed, spewing curses.
"What? What is it!?"
At the fearful voice of the man who had instinctively prostrated himself on the roof floor, Dae-woo's dad glanced at the safety helmet that had fallen next to him and said,
"A gun, it's an air rifle. Absolutely do not stand up. Crawl. Let's crawl to the door..."
Pop! Pop!
"That damn bastard keeps shooting! Just stand up and run, quickly, quickly!"
Dae-woo's dad was the first to stand up and run, keeping his body as low as possible, and the other men followed him in a panic.
Thwack!
"Argh!"
Then, one person was hit in the leg by a pellet and collapsed on the spot.
"Ah, damn it..."
Just as Dae-woo's dad, who had just opened the roof door, was agonizing over whether to bring him along or not,
- Argh!
- You damn bastard!
- G-gun! Run away!
Sounds of noise and screams followed one after another, as if the bastards who had picked the back door lock had already started causing trouble on the first floor of the mart.
"God damn it..."
Even though they had been so careful, he blamed himself for failing to properly deal with such a basic pincer attack. Just as he took a step to save his colleague who was groaning after being shot in the thigh,
Pew... Pew...
A strange noise, clearly originating from a considerable distance, repeatedly pierced Dae-woo's dad's ears. One of the intruders, who had just been about to climb over the mart parking lot wall about 30 meters away, twisted his body and fell backward, scattering something like red paint into the air.
And that wasn't the end of it.
Pew... Pew...
Every time that noise, which was somehow different from a normal gunshot, was heard, the intruders who were crossing the parking lot after climbing over the wall collapsed on the spot.
"W-what is this...?"
Without even realizing that the air rifle attack that had been sniping at the roof had stopped some time ago, Dae-woo's dad stood there awkwardly, watching the scene.
"D-Dae-woo's dad. M-me, help me..."
"Ah!"
Dae-woo's dad, who had finally come to his senses at the groans of his fallen colleague, approached quickly and supported him.
"W-what is it? What's going on?"
"I don't know. But maybe... it seems like someone is helping us. Anyway, Hyung-nim, stay here. It looks like those bastards have entered the first floor, so I'll go check."
"B-be careful, Dae-woo's dad."
Dae-woo's dad, who had nodded to his colleague who was gritting his teeth while pressing down on his thigh, rushed down the stairs. He descended the emergency exit stairs two or three at a time and soon arrived on the first floor.
- Argh!
- You damn bastard, put that down! Huh!?
- There are women here too, damn my luck!
- Eek! Eeeeeek!
"Hoo, hoo."
Listening to the bickering, cursing, and urgent screams echoing on the first floor of the mart, Dae-woo's dad quickly caught his breath and loaded a bolt into his crossbow. And just as he was about to open the emergency exit door as quietly as possible,
"What are you going to do after you fire that one shot?"
"Hic!"
Dae-woo's dad's body froze at the sudden voice.
"I came here to take care of those guys. Did you see someone shooting the others with an air rifle from outside? That's my colleague. So we might be able to help you people, put that on the floor and turn around slowly."
He wanted to turn around and shoot right now, but because of the scene he had seen on the roof a moment ago and an inexplicable, chilling feeling, Dae-woo's dad put down the crossbow as instructed and turned around slowly. And the moment he finally saw the owner of the cave-like low voice,
"Ah..."
Dae-woo's dad, who had tilted his eyes up, muttered to himself without realizing it.
"T-the Mansion Slayer...?"
In a pitch-black combat suit, black helmet, and mask, with a long, dark machete to boot.
"The Mansion Slayer? Good grief... anyway, how about it? Do you have any intention of fighting with me? For your information, I don't need the food in this mart."
A large man, dressed in an outfit that matched the rumors about the 'Mansion Slayer'—who had allegedly wiped out a group of delinquent punks who lived in an empty mansion and committed murder at every opportunity in a single night—was staring at him with ice-cold eyes and pointing a blade at him.