Early Morning Assembly
Early morning.
"No matter the time, you must wake up at the same hour!"
"I agree with May."
"No, considering what happened at dawn, wouldn't it be fine to sleep a bit more?"
"You'll be more tired than when training with us. A little flexibility is needed at times like this."
The voices of the skeletons echoing in his mind woke Joyeon.
"Ugh... May?"
"Ah, Master, it's time to wake up."
"What time is it now...?"
"It's 8:50."
"Aaah~~"
Joyeon groaned and forced himself to stretch to clear his mind. Rubbing his eyes and looking around, he saw Tiasia standing beside him and Kim Changkyung sitting a little distance away.
"Hmm— What time do people start moving around here?"
Though Joyeon didn't specify who he was addressing, Kim Changkyung answered as if he already knew the question was for him.
"Y-yes! People start moving around 10 o'clock. But if they don't have assigned tasks, they're free to do as they please, so it takes until past 11 for everyone to wake up."
"Still got some time..."
Still not fully awake, Joyeon scratched his cheek and got out of bed. Tiasia carefully supported him.
"Uncle."
"Yes!"
"Have everyone gather in front of the College of Engineering before 12. Slaves and comrades alike, all of them. Can you do it?"
"I-I'll make it happen!"
Pleased with Kim Changkyung's answer, Joyeon nodded.
"Should I go wash up... Breakfast... Even so, if May comes out there'll be a commotion, so let's just make do for today. Tiasia, where's the place to wash up?"
"I'll guide you."
Tiasia and Joyeon left the classroom, leaving Kim Changkyung behind. Having already decided not to run away, Kim Changkyung woke the two men who had been knocked out by Ron and May's violent subjugation during their sleep.
Shake shake.
"Wake up. Quickly!"
"Ugh...! My head hurts... What happened?"
"Where... is this?"
The men who woke up, clutching their heads that had been slammed into the ground, grimaced in inexplicable pain. Neither remembered what had happened at dawn properly.
Kim Changkyung calmed them down and gave orders.
"Right now, gather everyone here before 12... no, before 11, down to the first floor. Slaves and comrades, everyone."
Kim Changkyung deliberately shortened the time by an hour, considering Korean time.
The men realized something was wrong from Kim Changkyung's unprecedented command.
"Suddenly why..."
"Absolutely! Absolutely do not ask for reasons. Just say that I gathered everyone. Not knowing anything is better for you, for me, and the way to solve this problem without issues. Understood?"
Kim Changkyung dismissed the man's question, which would only waste time, and spoke like that. Seeing his serious expression, the men couldn't ask further. And since it wasn't a difficult task, they each took a floor.
"The 19th floor seems the hardest to organize, so I'll go there."
"I-I'll inform the people remaining on this floor."
"Uh... I'll gather the slaves on the 5th floor and bring them."
"The slaves on the 5th floor are many, so get help from those on the 6th and 7th floors! Everyone move quickly!"
Time passed, 11:55.
Hyundai University. In front of the College of Engineering.
About 300 people were divided into two groups. Around 50 of Kim Changkyung's comrades and the remaining 250 slaves.
"Changkyung! What the hell is this all of a sudden?!"
"What's the reason for gathering everyone like this!"
"You should tell us why you're calling us! Waking sleeping people, what are you doing!"
Kim Changkyung's comrades shouted at him for gathering them without any explanation. On the other hand, the people who had been held as slaves stood quietly without saying anything, trembling with worry and anxiety.
Kim Changkyung cleanly ignored those expressing dissatisfaction and talked with the two men who had helped gather people to assess the situation.
"Is everyone here?"
"Well... there were 3 dead on the 20th floor."
"There was 1 on the 6th floor too."
The men answered with pale faces.
'4 people... Exactly matches the number of people that roach monster killed. The people gathered here are 312... 4 dead... Adding me and these two makes 319...'
"But Baeksoo isn't here?"
"Baeksoo? Who's that?"
"You know, the guy managing the 5th floor. Always grumbling and coming up to the 19th floor to hang out."
"Ah..."
'5th floor... That person definitely came up from the 5th floor... Then he must already be dead.'
"He must be dead. Any other peculiarities?"
Kim Changkyung lightly passed over the matter of Baeksoo and checked for other problems. The reason he was checking peculiarities in such detail was because he didn't know the exact number of people in this university.
'They were told to gather before 11, but the last person arrived 10 minutes ago. No one came out after that, but maybe someone is still left...'
The more he racked his brain, the more he concluded he couldn't perfectly carry out Joyeon's order, and worry about what excuse to make rose up.
"Hey! Kim Changkyung! What are you doing after gathering everyone?!"
Eventually, unable to bear Kim Changkyung's neglect, a man approached him. Park Gangcheol, a fellow police officer who had lived with Changkyung on the 21st floor and joined forces for survival during the world fusion.
"... Gangcheol hyung."
"You need to give some explanation! Why are you suddenly doing this! Are you moving somewhere else? Or did you get a purpose? Did another group form nearby? We can handle it like we did with Hyundai High School."
"That... explaining is..."
"So it was here that dealt with Hyundai High School."
Shiver!
Goosebumps rose all over Kim Changkyung's body. The voice coming from behind was that of a man who could still be called young, but the aura it exuded was an intense aura of death he had never felt before. As if a cold blade was pressed against his neck, Kim Changkyung stiffened and couldn't move.
"What. Who are you, kid. You even took in a brat like that as a comrade? Changkyung?"
"B-brother! Please...!"
Kim Changkyung's survival instinct blocked Park Gangcheol's rude behavior. Grabbing his arm as he tried to approach Joyeon speaking harshly, he shook his head frantically.
"Please... Please listen to me! You've never had anything bad happen after listening to me. Please just go back and stay still now. Please...!"
At his desperate dissuasion, Park Gangcheol was flustered.
"Wh... What's the situation. What the hell is going on..."
"Brother! Please...!"
"Ah, I got it! You better explain properly after it's all over. Got it?"
Kim Changkyung nodded at his words, and Park Gangcheol glared at Joyeon before returning to his group. Kim Changkyung immediately lost interest in him and, seeing Joyeon walking towards him, bowed 90 degrees.
"O-oh, you've arrived! I've got everything prepared!"
Joyeon didn't respond to his greeting and checked the people gathered behind him.
"Huh... There are way more than I thought. But why are they divided into two groups?"
"It seems divided into slave personnel and this man's comrades."
"Is that so? Uncle?"
"Y-yes! That's right. Total personnel 315. Everyone... is gathered."
Kim Changkyung hesitated for a moment, not very confident in his words, but since he had already said it, he couldn't take it back. Joyeon looked at the people with widened eyes as if surprised by the mention of over 300.
Naturally, with the sudden appearance of the young man next to Kim Changkyung, over 300 pairs of eyes turned to Joyeon, and he slowly backed away.
"First time getting this many people's attention. It's too burdensome?"
"Master will stand before many people from now on too. You shouldn't be burdened by this many people."
"I'm just a youth who became an adult not long ago. Lara seems to think of me as too great a person. It's burdensome if you're so thorough~ Anyway, Uncle, you said everyone is gathered?"
"O-of course!"
Soul's Eye
His eyes, which had become quite freely usable due to what happened at dawn, saw through the souls still remaining in the building.
"One, two... There are three left."
"What?! Th-that can't be..."
Joyeon confirmed the floors where the wandering souls were. Two on the 19th floor, one on the 6th floor. Realizing that Joyeon wasn't bluffing but was truly seeing something and speaking, Kim Changkyung stammered with a pale face.
"I-I'm sorry! I made a big mistake! R-right now, I'll go personally...!"
"No. It's fine. It's bothersome and there's no need to drag it out more. 'House'."
Crack crack.
A pitch-black egg sac rose near Joyeon's leg. Seeing the egg sac, Kim Changkyung's complexion worsened as the disgusting scene he saw at dawn came back to mind.
Aaaah...!
Startle!
Kim Changkyung was startled and looked up at the College of Engineering.
'D-did I just hear a scream?'
It was a very small sound so the gathered people wouldn't have heard it, but clearly to his ears came a scream of someone struggling in pain.
'Wh-what did he do?'
Kim Changkyung looked at Joyeon with a face filled with terror. There was no agitation on his face. Just,
"Huh? Hmm... Seems one was from the slave side."
A troubled expression appeared as if an unexpected problem had occurred.
"Master, shall I go bring them? If you tell me the location, I can bring them right away."
"Seems I should. I can't go myself. They'll be at the very back of the 19th floor. Seems like they were hiding somewhere. There'll probably be a corpse nearby so it'll be easy to find."
"Yes. I'll bring them right away."
Tiasia bowed politely and ran into the university at tremendous speed. Only Joyeon remained beside Kim Changkyung. However, for Kim Changkyung, something else was more important than the fact that only the two of them were left.
'Roaches and egg sacs appearing again in all comrades' stomachs, slaves have to be brought separately, screams of comrades, the reason for gathering everyone in one place...'
"Th-this, the reason for gathering all personnel here, could it be..."
Asking Joyeon unconsciously while hoping it wasn't.
"Huh? Well, after dealing with all of them, I can't gather people one by one to explain, right? It's easier to gather them all and deal with them at once."
"Gulp!"
Startled by Joyeon's answer, he started hiccuping. Joyeon's face, speaking as if it was natural and smiling faintly while emitting red light, didn't look like an ordinary youth at all. To Kim Changkyung, the Joyeon in his eyes was literally no different from a grim reaper.
"Ah, don't worry too much. I have no intention of touching you, Uncle."
"What? What?! Really, really?!"
Surprised by Joyeon's sudden affirmation, Kim Changkyung checked if he had heard wrong.
"Yes. You didn't run away, listened to all my requests, and haven't harmed others for fun, right? Right?"
"O-of course! I wouldn't do such things! I had no choice! I've killed people out of necessity to survive but never! Never killed for fun! Yes!"
Thinking a way to live had appeared, vitality began to return to Kim Changkyung's eyes. Seeing that, Joyeon grinned and walked forward.
"Just help a bit more. Got it?"
"Yes! Of course!"
Kim Changkyung nodded frantically and followed him.