A Fine Name
"Wait, what is all this?"
"Ugh... Ughhh...."
While the people inside the mart were busy clearing out the mess in the lobby and parking lot, a group of residents from The First Apartments arrived late. "Whew! Back there on the mountain path..." As Daewoo's Dad explained the situation, Jun-ho kept the communication line open.
"What about Han Chang-oh and the ones who ran away?"
- There are five of them in total. They're heading back the way they came. The gang boss's younger brother is pretty badly hurt. He managed to pull the knife out, but he can't get the arrow out.
- What should I do, Hyung? Should I shoot?
Jun-hyeok, who had been waiting at a vantage point near the mountain path where the gangsters and the town house residents had come from, asked.
"Don't aim for a kill. Shoot from a distance so it looks like your accuracy is dropping. You can do that, right?"
- Okay.
"Good. You don't have to shoot anyone today."
That was true. When Jun-ho had infiltrated the back of the mart just like Han Chang-oh's gang, it wasn't Jun-hyeok who had shot the men jumping over the wall and crossing the parking lot.
- Boss, how's the G1's performance? Isn't it killer?
"Yeah. It's good."
It was the work of the G1 Ground Drone, which had taken up a position on a hill overlooking the mart, guided by AI Akina through the camera mounted on its chassis and high-altitude drone footage. The G1 Ground Drone had started by targeting the one armed with the most threatening compound hunting bow. After calculating the intruders' size and speed to determine their threat level, it neutralized them by hitting their shoulders and legs. Of course, the gangster hiding in the bushes and sniping the rooftop with an air rifle had been killed with five consecutive shots the moment his location was identified via the flying drone. He was a direct threat to Jun-ho.
"How much battery does the G1 have left?"
- A little over 50 percent. It lasts longer than I thought?
"That's probably because it hasn't moved much and stayed in one spot."
Still, it had been in active combat for nearly 30 minutes, so that was a passing grade. Even if it were constantly maneuvering while carrying heavy armor plating, 40 to 50 minutes should be plenty.
- I'm firing at the remnants of Hanchang Development now. Since I'm shooting from both the drone and the ground, those bastards seem to think there are quite a few of us.
"Yeah. That's exactly what I wanted them to think."
With this, Han Chang-oh and the few remnants who managed to escape would report that they had been attacked by at least four or five people, all armed with air rifles. After this, they wouldn't even think about stepping foot near Sang-dong, where The First Mart and the apartment complex were located. That left only Jung-dong, the residential area of the indigenous people, which had the most survivors but also the most zombies.
'They'll definitely try to break in during the winter, when the zombies' movements become sluggish and they retreat indoors.'
For someone like him, who had many people to take care of, it was an inevitable choice to incorporate the residents of the secured areas into his group rather than killing them. Of course, they were growing staple crops like potatoes and sweet potatoes, as well as side dishes in the gardens and greenhouses of the detached houses and town houses.
'But winter is coming, and those things don't just pop up in a month or two.'
There were simply too many mouths to feed and not enough manpower, so he had no choice. Sensing that the end of the gangsters—the second biggest problem after the zombies in keeping Gahyeon-ri under his thumb—was near, Jun-ho walked toward the residents of The First Apartments.
* * *
"Phew, anyway, you really worked hard. We almost had a disaster."
"Right. What would we have done if the mart had been looted?"
"No! You shouldn't just say that; you should have come sooner. We really almost died."
"Damn it. Now that the gangsters have run away and the zombies are gone, you're saying you're glad the mart wasn't looted? Isn't this too much?"
"Damn, some of us risked our lives fighting, while others are just worried about what to eat."
"Hey, look at this guy? How can a young person talk like that! If this mart gets looted! Huh! It's going to be hard for everyone in our complex... Ack!"
Twang!
The man in his 50s, who had been spitting while shouting with a bright red face, suddenly screamed and clutched his ear.
"H-Honey? Honey, what's wrong!?"
His wife, who had been standing next to him with her arms crossed—wearing makeup and a pearl necklace even in this world—hastily supported her husband, who was clutching his ear and hunching over.
"Ah, ahhh... my, my ear..."
"Why your ear... Eek! Blood?"
Blood leaking through the man's fingers quickly stained the concrete floor in front of the mart red. Thump, thump, thump... Jun-ho, who had finished his communication, walked past the middle-aged couple and pulled the throwing knife out of the wooden pillar in front of the mart.
"...!!!"
Only then did the people realize that Jun-ho had thrown the knife and sliced off half of the man's ear, their eyes widening and mouths agape.
"My, my ear... Ughhh."
"Oh my, honey... Hey! You crazy bastard!"
The woman, who had been holding a towel to her husband's ear to stop the bleeding, whipped her head toward Jun-ho.
"Did you do this? You just... this man's ear..."
Whack!
"Ugh!"
The woman, who had been quite plump—perhaps because she had been eating well even in this world—couldn't finish her sentence.
"Ugh... oh, ugh, ugh..."
The middle-aged woman, who had been knocked to the ground by Jun-ho's palm, couldn't regain her senses, blood streaming from her nose and mouth. Jun-ho aimed his machete at the woman collapsed on the floor and the husband who was hastily supporting her.
"Are you two dying to die? Do you want me to kill you?"
"Ugh!?"
"Ugh..."
Not content with slicing off half of the husband's ear, he hadn't shown any mercy to the woman either, knocking her down as well. As Jun-ho aimed the machete—still wet with fresh blood and flesh—at them, the couple was too terrified to say a word.
Jun-ho kept his blade aimed at them and glanced to the side. "Who are these people? Do you share food with useless parasites like this here?"
"Well... for now, they're residents of the same complex..."
Jun-ho coldly cut off the answer from one of the men at the mart.
"Residents of the same complex? Then do they have a job or a role? Do they do anything like you or the people here, fighting against enemies or guarding supplies?"
"They don't. That's why I was planning to give them only one meal's worth of food a day starting after today. For everyone who doesn't do anything."
Daewoo's Dad stepped forward. At that, the eyes of the middle-aged couple, as well as several other residents, went wide.
"W-well, even so..."
"No, Daewoo's Dad! Then what about us..."
Swish.
As Jun-ho's gaze, devoid of any emotion, turned toward them, everyone shut their mouths. Jun-ho rested the machete on his shoulder and looked around at the residents.
"Humans are truly disgusting. Do you realize that if it weren't for me today, this mart and everything else would have been looted? Do you really not know that these people here were almost killed or dragged off by those gang bastards? But you just hid and did nothing, and now you crawl out and what? Say more if you dare."
"..."
Jun-ho indifferently looked at the few people who still seemed to have complaints and continued.
"Why? You have a complaint?"
"...That's not it."
"If that's not it, then shut up. Unless you want to die."
As Jun-ho finished his sentence, he raised his machete. Phew... Whack! Along with the sound of an air rifle silencer, a tungsten pellet embedded itself at the man's feet.
"Gasp!"
The man in his 40s, startled out of his wits, slumped to the ground.
"G-gun! It's a gun!"
"Ugh..."
All the residents were startled, looking around with terrified faces. Some even hid behind other people or walls. Jun-ho spoke to those residents.
"Remember that if you act like shit, you'll be treated like shit. Honestly, I want to shoot everyone regardless of any promises, but keep in mind that I'm holding back because of this man."
People's gazes turned to Daewoo's Dad, who was not avoiding Jun-ho's eyes despite the intense tension.
"You, let's talk. We need to finish the settlement."
"...Let's do that. But please, wait a moment."
Daewoo's Dad gave various instructions to the terrified residents. Having always been highly trusted among the survivors of The First Apartments, he calmly delegated tasks before going to Jun-ho.
"I'm sorry. They're from a different building, so I don't know their circumstances well. They must have just been worried because they heard the mart was almost looted."
"Whether they were or not, it's none of my business. If a problem arises, it'll happen here, and if people die, it'll be the people here who die."
"...!"
Though he flinched at Jun-ho's cold-blooded words, Daewoo's Dad soon sighed and took off the goggles and mask he had been wearing the whole time.
"Whew... you're right. That's why I was planning to clear out Building 3 soon and gather all the surviving residents. Even though there's still quite a bit of food left in the mart, it'll be gone in a month, so I was thinking of farming in the empty apartments or on the rooftops... Why, why are you looking at me like that?"
Daewoo's Dad hesitated at Jun-ho's gaze and looked at him with a puzzled expression. Jun-ho, who had been staring intently at Daewoo's Dad, opened his mouth.
"Excuse me, but what is your name?"
"Me? Oh, everyone calls me Daewoo's Dad, so you must not have known my name. I'm Song Pung... no, I'm Song Ki-jun."
"..."
Jun-ho was dumbfounded to see Song Ki-jun, whom he had searched for so long. He hadn't recognized him because he had been wearing a hard hat, goggles, and a mask. Moreover, Song Ki-jun's appearance now was very different from what Jun-ho had seen before the regression. Back then, his beard had been overgrown, and his eyes and expression hadn't been like this. If things had gone as originally planned, he would have been dragged off by the gangsters today, and he probably would have been completely changed after suffering all sorts of hardships there for nearly a year.
"Song Ki-jun... so it was you. That's a fine name."
"Oh, is it?"
At Jun-ho's compliment, Song Ki-jun continued with a slightly brighter face.
"Actually, I changed it recently. My original name, given by my grandfather, was... well, it was a bit... you know. But early this year, before my grandfather passed away, he told me he was sorry and that it was okay to change it now, so..."
Listening to Song Ki-jun, Jun-ho realized why he hadn't been able to find him for the past two years.
"...Anyway, that's why I applied last year and became Song Ki-jun from Song Pung-gi this May. I've suffered so much because of my name for over 30 years..."
Indeed, while the name Pung-gi itself wasn't common, it wasn't unheard of, but combined with the surname 'Song', 'Song Pung-gi' (which sounds like 'blower fan') must have been teased relentlessly since childhood.
"So even the people I'm close to in the apartment just call me Daewoo's Dad. But... what is your name?"
"Lee Jun-ho."
"Ah, so you're Lee Jun-ho. Anyway, Jun-ho. Thank you, truly, from the bottom of my heart today. Thanks to you, I survived."
Song Ki-jun bowed respectfully to Jun-ho.
"You said you didn't need any groceries from the mart, but please take some. No matter what, the people in our apartment aren't so stingy that they'd object to giving something to a savior. If it weren't for you, Jun-ho, the food wouldn't even be the issue; we would have all died or been captured."
"Then I'll take a few things. By the way, do you happen to know any news about Edu Town?"
Although Jun-ho already knew most of the situation through CCTV and drone surveillance installed in the safe house on the top floor of Building 1 of the Edu Town apartments, he asked casually. As expected, Song Ki-jun's expression immediately turned cold.