Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Catch, Kill, Enslave - 2
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“No betrayal. No self-harm outside of orders. No funny business with the team members. Answer if you understand.”
“Yes... I understand.”
Park Seong-o, who buried his head in the ground with a humiliating expression.
I stepped on the bastard's head, thoroughly enjoying the thrill of being able to order another human around as I pleased.
‘A truly fruitful outing. I got weapons and even picked up a slave.’
We reaped huge gains without anyone getting hurt.
Our results were excellent. Aside from being a little tired.
However, for some reason, the expressions of the two women, who were blankly staring at the corpse, were not good.
They were exuding a gloomy atmosphere while looking at the dead body.
Perhaps they were thinking of many things because it was their first kill.
‘It's understandable to feel repulsed...’
It's only been a week since the apocalypse began, so it's understandable that both of them are showing such a weak reaction. It's greedy to ask these women, who were afraid to even kill a bug, let alone a person, to become crazy murderers overnight.
After all, Ha-rin didn't kill me because of her misguided humanitarianism and ended up as a slave like this.
“Are you two okay?”
“Yes.. I'm okay. It's something we had to go through anyway...”
“I, too, expected this much, Master.”
They both force a smile and pretend to be okay, but I don't know how they really feel inside.
There's nothing to do but comfort them with my relatively strong mentality.
“Come here.”
“Yes...”
“Oppa...”
I hugged both of them and soothed them by stroking their backs.
Eun-ji was trembling slightly, and Ha-rin closed her eyes tightly again this time.
“You might have to kill countless people from now on. Still... we have to do it to survive. You both have to harden your hearts. Got it?”
“Yes, Oppa. I'll do my best.”
“I'm prepared too, Master.”
Fortunately, both showed their will. The repulsion towards killing still seems to remain, but I can see their determination not to hesitate.
That's a very good resolve. They can't be depressed forever.
The mindset of being able to kill others without hesitation to survive is important.
Morality and ethics always take a backseat in the face of survival. You have to choose to kill rather than be killed. For their own sake and for mine.
“Good. Then, Park Seong-o. Shall we have another in-depth conversation?”
I've roughly comforted Eun-ji and Ha-rin, so now it's time to interrogate this bastard Park Seong-o.
I need to find out everything: how many people they have in total at the supermarket, how many Awakened there are, what weapons they have, and how much food is left.
Also, I need to figure out how long he can go back without being suspected and how to use him.
“Park Seong-o.”
“Keuk... Yes.”
“From now on, answer my questions without a single lie.”
“Yes... I understand.”
First question first.
How many bastards do we have to kill or subdue?
“There are currently almost thirty people in the supermarket... and about ten women we've captured...”
Women they've captured. As expected, these bastards have plenty of playthings.
I'm quite intrigued. Hopefully, they're all in good condition.
“How many Awakened?”
“Including me, a total of seven.”
“Spill all the information you know.”
“Uh... First, there are four Warriors... that is, warriors... and one Archer and two Fighters.”
Fortunately, there wasn't a single one with a weird job like ours. That lowers the difficulty a bit. I already looked up information about Warriors, Archers, and Fighters when the internet was still up. All three are very basic combat jobs.
If I had to rank their rarity, they are normal even among normals. Of course, there are plenty of survivors who didn't even get that, but among the Awakened, they are just ordinary guys.
‘As expected, there aren't many Hidden Classes.’
I got the Cultist, a Hidden Class, thanks to my ridiculously high luck stat of 666, and perhaps due to my influence, Eun-ji got the unique class, Shadow Walker.
Ha-rin, who fatefully met me, also got the Barbarian class, which no one else has.
Just looking at the classes, we are vastly superior. The problem is the strength of each individual.
A bastard strong enough to claim leadership among seven Awakened...
“What level is the boss?”
“That... I heard he's around level 9.”
“Level 9? Already?”
From my experience, it's hard to exceed level 5 even if you kill as many Normal Zombies as you want. To get past the level 5 wall and rise to level 6 with just Normal Zombies, you'd really have to kill them all day long.
“He must have raised it by killing people.”
“That's right... I think he got to level 9 by beating down all the people who came targeting the supermarket. He's a complete madman, he kills people for fun.”
As expected, as the world went crazy, crazy bastards found it easier to live. He's not even a Special Zombie, but he's already level 9 from killing people. I can't even imagine how many he's killed.
“What's his class?”
“His class is Fighter, and he calls himself a martial artist. He originally learned boxing. He's extremely confident, saying he'll definitely win if he fights one-on-one without a weapon... Looking at him smash zombie heads with his fists, it doesn't seem like a lie.”
That sounds like a troublesome guy to deal with.
It means he was originally good at fighting even without a class. Now that he has stats and skills, I can't even imagine how strong he's become. Especially since he's level 9.
And such a guy is holding a gun and holding his ground, which is why the supermarket hasn't fallen yet. He probably killed everyone who came, and if there were women, he would have captured them and made them his playthings.
I wonder how much experience I'll get if I kill a guy like that. It seems like killing fellow Awakened, especially high-level ones, gives more experience than killing ordinary people.
‘Ah, no, I was thinking of killing him without thinking... I shouldn't do that.’
You shouldn't kill people recklessly.
You have to make them your slave.
“Hehehe...”
My mouth watered. A level 9 slave. Especially a guy who's so good at fighting, how well would he be to use?
‘The difficulty is going to skyrocket starting next Monday... I must not kill him and definitely make him my slave...’
Good. I'm definitely capturing that level 9 boss. With the suppression muzzle and my Tentacle Summon, I should be able to easily subdue him.
But how do I make him my slave as easily as cake...
“Are you close with your boss?”
“Huh? Uh, I think we're close...”
“I mean, are you close enough to have a private conversation?”
“We're not that close. I'm one of the lowest among the Awakened. And I haven't been with them for long. You can tell just by looking at me running around. I'm doing all the grunt work because I'm a low-ranking member.”
“Hah. You useless bastard.”
I smacked the back of Park Seong-o's head for no reason.
But does this bastard not wash his hair either?
Grease got on my hand, and my mood soured instantly.
“Then who does your boss usually hang out with?”
“That, he's almost never apart from his younger sister. He says everyone else is untrustworthy, so he's only close with her.”
“Hmm, is that so? Is that younger sister also an Awakened? Was she also a martial artist?”
“Yes. She's also a Fighter, just like her brother. I heard she has a taekwondo belt. Definitely, seeing her smash zombie heads with her kicks, it doesn't seem like a lie.”
“What's that bastard's level?”
“I heard it's around 7.”
A pair of siblings, both killing machines. I like it. The thought of capturing both of them and making them my slaves, using them like dogs, makes my fatigue feel a little lifted.
“What about the other Awakened's levels?”
“That, I don't know the details either. I'm level 4, and the others with the Warrior job are probably around 3 to 5. The Archer is level 6, I think. But that bastard is a lost cause because he doesn't have a bow.”
An Archer without a bow is laughable.
‘Ha-rin has a bow, so I should capture the Archer and make him my slave too. Two Fighters and one Archer... I can make the Warriors my slaves as they get their mana... Well, Warriors are common, so it's no big deal if I just kill them if it doesn't work out?’
Warrior, or Warrior, is a very common class. Among Awakened, Warriors are the most common.
If I tell the women who are captured as playthings to kill zombies, wouldn't a few humans awaken as Warriors?
There are plenty of people who haven't even killed a single zombie yet, so it's not that the number of Awakened is small, but rather that there are more people who haven't realized their potential.
“How many handguns do you have?”
“We have three. We took them from dead police officers, but there was no ammunition other than what was loaded. Also, the chamber is empty for the first shot, and the second is a blank... so in reality, there are only three live rounds. There are a total of nine live rounds, but we've used about five of them. I only have one blank in the handgun I'm carrying. It's basically just a decorative threat.”
“Huh. So you really had nothing.”
“Yes...”
A handgun as a decoration. He must have pulled it out to threaten us from the start, but he got caught by my tentacles before that.
“Then who has the remaining ammunition?”
“The boss has all four.”
The Archer on the roof, who was always on guard duty, was only holding a handgun, but it was just a decoration with blanks.
The boss has all four. It must be a bit unsettling to hand over bullets to someone else when he doesn't have a Slave Mark like me.
So the handgun of the guy I saw on the roof at the time had no bullets. It was all a bluff on their part.
“Hmm. What are the names of the boss and his younger sister?”
“They are the brothers, Ha Jin-seong and Ha Jin-woo.”
The Ha brothers. Where are they usually?”
“They usually play poker at the electronics corner on the second floor.”
“I see...”
The sun is setting. It'll be dark soon.
“Hoo... Eun-ji, Ha-rin.”
“Yes, Oppa.”
“Speak, Master.”
“Are you two very tired right now?”
“Uh...”
“You have to tell me for sure.”
“I'm still okay.”
“I'm fine too. What about you, Oppa?”
“I'm fine too. Then let's raid the supermarket right away today.”
“Uh...”
“Right now?”
“That's right. First, Eun-ji and I don't have a problem with our vision even in the dark, and Ha-rin can find out where people are if she uses Heartbeat Tracking.”
“It's definitely more advantageous for us at night.”
“I will follow the Master's decision.”
We'll finish them off under the cover of darkness. We are much more advantageous at night.
“Good. Park Seong-o. I'm giving you an important mission.”
“Yes?”
“During the battle, if the boss pulls out a gun, you must either snatch the gun or take the hit for us. Waste the live rounds.”
“Yes...? W-wait a minute. Are you telling me to get shot and die?!”
Park Seong-o looked at me with an incredulous expression, as if to say he should become a meat shield.
He must be thinking he might die if I tell him to subdue the boss with a gun.
This bastard still doesn't seem to understand his situation.
“That's what it means to be a slave. You have to go and die when I tell you to. Don't talk back to your master.”
“Ugh... Yes.”
“So, our Seong-o has become the team's representative 'bullet sponge'. Congratulations.”
Tears streamed down Park Seong-o's eyes at my cold words.
Now he understands his situation clearly.
That's what a slave is.
Something that can never refuse its master's orders.
A puppet that moves as I command.
If they're pretty like Eun-ji and Ha-rin, I keep them by my side.
If not, I use them where they're needed and then discard them.
This bastard isn't a precious Hidden Class. He's just one of the most common Awakened among basic jobs, so it's not a big loss to use and throw him away.
There are three more Warriors in the supermarket, so what's there to be sorry about?
Especially this fucking bastard didn't wash his hair and got grease on my hand.
“What about the entrances?”
“Huk... They've blocked everything except the main entrance and are taking turns keeping watch.”
“Good. Then you go in as naturally as possible and open the back door. We'll go in through there.”
“Heuk... Yes... I understand...”
I patted the shoulder of Park Seong-o, who was shedding tears like chicken droppings, and turned to Eun-ji and Ha-rin.
Both of them flinched and trembled. Why are they doing that?
“Why? Is something wrong?”
“Ah, no, Oppa. Haha.”
“M-my cool Master...”
“Hehe. How silly. Anyway, first, Park Seong-o will go in through the main entrance and open the back door for us, and we'll sneak in. Without guns, they're just a bunch of nobodies. If the boss gets impatient and pulls out a gun to shoot, our Seong-o will take the hit. Eun-ji and Ha-rin just need to protect me and fight well on their own.”
I have two Tentacle Summon uses left for today. If I use this, it's over, no matter if the opponent has learned martial arts or whatever. So I need to save my mana.
If they just hold off the Ha brothers for about 15 seconds, considering me as an outlier, we will win unconditionally. If they can just buy me time to chant, it's our victory.
Ha-rin, if she uses her enhanced strength, Rough Skin, and Destroyer's Punch, will subdue one of them quickly. Eun-ji, if she stays hidden and lands her Shadow Dagger coated with Paralysis Venom Fang, we win unconditionally.
‘After that, I'll knock one out and put a suppression muzzle on the other to seal their abilities, and then make them my slaves as my mana recovers.’
I don't know if things will go as planned, but the difficulty of this operation will change a lot depending on how well Park Seong-o moves.
I should give Park Seong-o some hope and boost his morale around this point.
“Seong-o.”
“Huk... Yes...”
“Don't cry. A man shouldn't cry like that.”
“Hup... Yes. I'll stop.”
“Look. All you have to do is dodge the bullets well, right? I'm not asking you to do something impossible.”
“Yes...?”
“That's right. It's nothing. You just have to dodge three shots, right?”
“Yes...”
“You're a level 4 Warrior too, right? You can just use your skills to dodge quickly.”
“Huk....”
“It's really nothing, you punk. Take it easy. Then you get to live. I'm happy because I don't have to kill a slave. Right?”
“Yes...”
His eyes were still dead. Had he already accepted death?
It doesn't matter either way.
We headed for the supermarket.