Chapter 135
Chapter 135
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 135
Chapter Title: Peace Isn't Free
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As the full-scale battle erupted and the situation turned dire, the Engineer and the Plant Farmer hid in the broadcasting room.
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>True to their status as Hyoseon Girls' High's most vital assets, they were under far stricter protection than anyone else. Besides, they weren't much help in actual combat anyway.
Moreover, the external turrets they had relied on had all been wrecked by Merhere's hand, and the tree roots had been seized by Kang Hee-sun.
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>Unless the enemies breached the building, there was nothing these two could do.
Their classes were top-tier for base-building, but they had zero combat prowess. This was their fatal flaw: once the main base was breached by external foes, they became utterly powerless.
"Ji-yeon sunbae... W-what are we gonna do... It looks like... all the teachers and the other sunbaes... are dead..."
"I... I don't know either... What do we do..."
Screams of people dying one by one echoed from outside. They couldn't hide in here forever. They had to make a choice.
Would they fight despite not knowing how, clinging to pointless loyalty in a desperate last stand? Or would they surrender quickly, prove their usefulness, and side with the invaders?
Jeong Ji-yeon, the third-year Engineer at Hyoseon Girls' High, made a proposal to her junior, Joo In-hye, the Plant Farmer. Ji-yeon was an extreme realist with a strong survival instinct.
"Y-you mean side with them...? Sunbae... You're saying we betray all our school friends... and teachers...?"
"What choice do we have? Everyone here is done for. But with our skills, we can negotiate good treatment from the invaders.
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>Honestly, I never liked those non-awakened freeloaders who lounged around without doing shit once we fortified the school...
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>Without us, they'd have died ages ago."
Ji-yeon had despised non-awakened people from the start. Weak, stupid humans with no real abilities, yet demanding so much.
Their selfish demands—constantly asking players for this or that, begging for trips into the city to scavenge—filled her with disgust. She harbored hatred for these useless weaklings who contributed nothing to the group.
What she loathed most were underdogs.
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>Just because they were weak didn't make them good people, but the idiot teachers at this school always preached that these helpless non-awakened deserved pity and aid.
It was infuriating how those non-awakened teachers acted like it was obvious, trying to lecture her. Deep down, Ji-yeon always thought: Without me, they'd all be dead already, yet they don't know their place and keep yapping.
In the apocalypse, it was even worse seeing these non-awakened teachers—former educators—still trying to "teach" them just because they used to be in charge.
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>She saw them as boomers who couldn't read the room.
As time dragged on, Ji-yeon grew sick of it.
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>The teachers preaching humanism like morons, the non-awakened clapping like idiots. She often thought all the loudmouths with no skills should just die.
The more useless non-awakened piled up, the more work fell on the awakened. She had suggested cutting dead weight, but her ideas were always shot down or ignored.
Eventually, her hatred for non-awakened reached its peak.
'I've always thought trash like non-awakened should be enslaved as laborers and ruled over. Maybe... this is...'
For someone like Ji-yeon, who believed in ruling the school by strength alone, this could be the perfect opportunity. These invading awakened were surely wild survivors who lived by power.
It was a chance to teach that awakened get preferential treatment while non-awakened crawl at the bottom. That's what she thought.
"In-hye, don't overthink it. Let's just look out for ourselves. With our abilities, we won't suffer. We'll be fine. The others... Players will survive, probably. So let's get out of this stuffy broadcast room and join them. If we ask to be taken in, they'll say yes."
"S-sunbae... I never saw you like this..."
"Sigh... Hey, stop making me out to be the only bitch here. You're gonna end up under them anyway! Haven't you seen what's happening outside? It's over!!"
"B-but...! We have friends here... I-I...!"
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BOOM!!!
As they bickered over their plans, Lee Eun-ji burst into the broadcast room. She had been blocking turret scrap with her wheels, turning the school grounds into a wasteland, snapping the limbs of charging players.
"There you are. You two are the... Engineer? And the one who planted those tree roots in the walls, right?"
"H-how did you..."
"Caught a few and cut off their fingers till they spilled everything. They said you can't fight and begged to be spared? Hahaha! Sounds like everyone here survived thanks to you... but sold you out for two fingers. Hey, fingers aren't that important. I get it."
At Eun-ji's words, In-hye collapsed in despair. In contrast, Engineer Ji-yeon immediately dropped to her knees and begged.
"Y-you're right, unnie!! I-I'm the Engineer. I built all those turrets... I-I'm super useful. P-please don't kill me... Please..."
Eun-ji nodded at Ji-yeon's plea. She stuck her head out the window, announcing that the Engineer was secured and the campus turrets had stopped. Then she turned to the still-frozen In-hye.
"Good. What about you?"
"Uh... I... um..."
"Answer quick, or I'll have to hurt you a lot. And our Jun oppa... he'd torment you way worse than me. Let's keep it easy, friend. Yeah? We'll be seeing each other's faces from now on."
Eun-ji smiled, but thorns lurked in it, faint killing intent leaking from her. Overwhelmed by the vicious aura, In-hye stammered but couldn't stop, terrified into introducing herself.
"Y-yes... Yes... I-I'm a Plant Farmer... Name's Joo In-hye..."
"Hold up. No need for details. Save that for Master. Got it?"
"M-Master...?"
"Yeah, your master. You two will serve one man from now on. He's terrifying... brutal... kills without hesitation. So bow your heads and obey. Say you'll submit unconditionally. You're both pretty cute, so if you behave, he won't torment you much and will treat you well. Got it? Trust unnie and obey... No rebelling? Rebelling... will hurt a lot..."
Under Eun-ji's advice, Ji-yeon and In-hye nodded like they were enchanted. The half-human half-demon Eun-ji's eyes had a hypnotic pull. Meeting that gaze, the two high schoolers accepted her words as gospel.
"Alright, advice given... Let's go."
With persuasion done, Eun-ji led them downstairs. By then, the campus sweep was over. Hyoseon Girls' High was deathly silent, like a graveyard. Only occasional screams from some woman echoed. In-hye felt they sounded like Teacher Yu Hye-ji.
Soon, arriving at the first floor amid pleas-like screams, they saw survivors all kneeling in the lobby, hands on heads, lined up.
And some defiant players or non-awakened had been executed as examples—mostly chatty non-awakened teachers or whiny weaklings who demanded the most despite contributing nothing.
"Oh, there they are. Those kids?"
"Yes! These are the Engineer and Plant Farmer!"
"Good job, Eun-ji. Let's see..."
Ji-yeon and In-hye stared at Jang Jojun, casually yanking a knife from Yu Hye-ji's body.
Yu Hye-ji was already a mangled wreck, half-dead. Spotting that Jojun's skill allowed guild-like commands, she had resisted submission.
But after being sliced repeatedly and seared by Lee Ju-ha's fox flames, she broke. Her vow to protect the students, her resolve to never hand the school to villains—none withstood the agony of flesh torn and burned.
Human will crumbles like sandcastles before pain beyond limits.
"Come here, kids."
"Hic... S-sunbae... W-what do we do... Th-that uncle... is s-scary..."
"Shh. In-hye... Just... keep quiet... Follow me."
Ji-yeon stepped over boomer corpses, approaching Jojun who sat atop the trembling Lee Seon-jae.
Gulp...
Tense to the max, Ji-yeon swallowed hard. The man's face was blurry, like filtered. Terrifying enough, but the women behind him radiated menace, amplifying the pressure.
To Ji-yeon, Jojun's harem felt like yakshas from hell. Jojun was Yama King.
"Hm. So, who's the Engineer?"
"M-me... I'm the Engineer..."
"Oh, you're the Engineer. You've got some impressive skills, huh?"
"Y-yes..."
"See your teacher here? Name's... yeah, Yu Hye-ji, right?"
"Y-yes... I s-see her."
"She screamed she wouldn't submit till the end, ended up like this. Don't waste energy rebelling like our friend here, okay? I'm tired too. This shit gets old fast. Smashing people all day stresses me out. So... yeah. What's your name, friend?"
"Ji-Ji-yeon... Jeong Ji-yeon..."
"Right, Ji-yeon. You'll submit to me, right? I'll ask once. Think it over."
Ji-yeon met eyes with Yu Hye-ji writhing on the floor. Think it over? Only one choice. Refusal meant worse than death.
Thinking Ji-yeon hesitated, Jojun grabbed Yu Hye-ji's head and whispered.
"Teacher, huh? Wanna see the kids suffer more? You saw those archer girls lose fingers. Tell them quick. Submit to me."
"Hng... K-kids... H-hurry and submit. No point resisting... D-don't... hold out like teacher... Kids... Hurry... That's the way to live... Trust teacher..."
"Hahaha. Hear that? Teacher's final lesson. Listen up. Won't get sincere advice like this twice."
Ji-yeon squeezed her eyes shut. The invaders were crazier than she thought. No way to fight back, no strength. Already dragged before the boss. Non-combat Ji-yeon could only submit. She bowed her head.
"I... submit."
"Smart choice. Good girl. Obedient. Right, Su-kyung? No fingers chopped like you for mouthing off. No stabs like Ji-seon for defiance. Yeah? Answer me!!"
"Kh... S-sorry... Kkh..."
"Sigh, whatever. Ji-yeon, come kneel here. Good."
Watching Ji-yeon kneel, In-hye wanted to burst into tears and collapse.
The blurry-faced man, the women's cold stares, heads of yesterday's laughing friends rolling on the floor... Too fragile to process.
It all terrified her. In under four hours, they'd razed the base and swallowed the school. In-hye felt indescribable dread.
"U-unnie... A-are we really... really submitting...?"
"I already did. No choice, In-hye. Decide quick. I'll... follow this uncle. It's the only way to live right now. I don't wanna die here. I wanna live. You too... decide well. No point rebelling... Nowhere to run."
Jojun beamed innocently at Ji-yeon's words. Wise judgment. Hoping everyone here was as wise, he smiled.
Soon, the Slave Brand stamped Ji-yeon's forehead.
(For reference, Jojun—putting on an exaggerated act to break the kneelers easily—was quite pleased with Ji-yeon's words.)
"You there. Come here. Let's wrap this up quick. Gotta clear bodies. We're busy."
"Hng... Sniff... You bastard... Killing like that... How are you so calm... Crazy fuck..."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm the bastard. Hurry up. My patience is wearing thin."
"Hng... Waaah..."
In-hye approached sobbing. She knelt too, unable to resist properly, and got branded. Hyoseon Girls' High's key figures became slaves entirely.
"Haa... Players to the left. Non-awakened to the right. Open your mouth while moving and you die. Move! Now!!"
Having enslaved the school's top assets, Jang Jojun separated the lobby crowd.
Non-awakened were easy to kill, but better to enslave awakened fast. So he split them, planning to brand players first.
"Players, line up single file. No funny business or rebellion, or you die. Don't wanna get your head ripped like those by the Dullahan? Obey nicely. Then you won't die like those idiots."
The piled corpses—thanks to the Dullahan ripping heads while yelling nonsense—wouldn't revive as zombies.
Anyway, seeing headless bodies, Hyoseon’s awakened accepted their fate. Better than powerless non-awakened, at least.
And the non-awakened, enjoying peace without skills, became true bottom slaves—and potential offerings—at Hyoseon Girls' High from today.
This was fitting for apocalypse survivors.
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