Adapting to a Ruined World (1)
The sun rose again.
"Haah."
A regretful sigh slipped from Hyun Si-woon's lips.
At the exit of the Tower of Despair, Hyun Si-woon, Baek Yeon-ho, Kang Si-a, and Baek Do-hee still held their ground. They had taken turns snatching sleep through the night, yet exhaustion was written plain across every face.
Still no word from the two of them.
His heart felt as if it were slowly burning down to ash.
Tsk tsk. What a shame.
Ha-wol's tongue-clicking voice sounded inside his head. She too had been watching everything from above.
It's only the second floor. If they still haven't come out by now… you may have to start accepting it. Fifteen hours have already passed.
"……"
This lady lost quite a few comrades while climbing the Tower herself. That hollow emptiness when a trusted companion falls right before your eyes—I've tasted it too. But this is no different from an unavoidable disaster. No matter how prepared you are, death arrives without warning. It hurts, yet you may need to let it go now.
The hollowness of an entire week's effort turning to foam. And the aching regret for people he had only just begun to regard as comrades. The two feelings tangled together.
Honestly, there was a way to save them. If Hyun Si-woon died right this moment and regressed to the save point—
No.
He shook his head. He had already decided he would not.
He had hammered into their heads everything that mattered—the core of the second-floor strategy, every trap location, even the hidden routes. Their base physicals were solid enough as well. If they still could not survive the second floor…
Then that is as far as they go.
Even a veteran could not spoon-feed everything. If they could not climb the wall themselves, they had no right to walk the harsher road that lay ahead.
Hmm.
Ha-wol cupped her chin.
Still, they were not without talent. It is a little strange.
Just as the question formed—
Wiiing!
The space near the exit warped ever so slightly again.
What now.
Just another new climber, I bet.
The party members barely stirred, only blinking. They had already watched so many first-floor clearers emerge while they waited that no real hope remained.
But then—
"Th-They're out!"
Baek Do-hee's cry cut the air.
Thud!
As if hurled, two figures bounced out—unmistakably Hwang Dae-un and Jang Cha-yul.
"K-Kehek!"
"Ugh."
Yet both of them looked wrong. Hwang Dae-un was drenched in blood, deep slash wounds carved across his body.
"……"
Hyun Si-woon's eyes sharpened to blades.
Sword wounds.
Cuts from a blade.
Oh ho.
Ha-wol's lips curved with interest. There were no sword-wielding monsters on the second floor of the Tower. And Jang Cha-yul's clothes had been almost completely torn away, bare skin showing through the rags.
Sword wounds mean… they were attacked by people.
"Cha-yul unnie!"
Kang Si-a reacted first. She sprinted over, stripped off her outer coat, and wrapped it around Jang Cha-yul. Baek Do-hee rushed to Hwang Dae-un and poured healing into him.
"Huff… huff! Those bastards…!"
Just as Hwang Dae-un struggled to speak—
Rumble!
Four more men walked out of the exit. Every face was rough, every body covered in crude tattoos. One look was enough: the lowest sort of thugs—gangsters, plain and simple.
Hyun Si-woon's expression iced over. He would need to hear, in exacting detail, what had happened inside that floor.
In very exacting detail.
One of them sneered with lazy swagger.
"What the hell, you bastards. We figured you'd croaked while running, but you were hiding like rats and still breathing?"
Another snickered in agreement.
"Why'd you resist, huh? Wanted a free ride on the bus, you should've shared the goodies."
Shing!
One drew his sword and stalked toward Hwang Dae-un.
Swoosh—whoosh!
Their party did not stand idle. Baek Yeon-ho slammed his shield across the path; Kang Si-a already had an arrow on the string. And in front of them—
Thud.
Hyun Si-woon stepped forward, face cold as winter steel.
"Hooh."
The biggest of the gangsters—clearly their leader—raked his eyes up and down Si-woon and laughed. A deep scar cut across his eye socket, giving him a brutish face.
"So you're the hyungnim that little brat kept yapping about. For a hyungnim you look skinny as a stick. Don't look like you could even throw a punch."
"Hahahaha! Right? Hey kids—you really think you can take us?"
Open mockery.
Tsk tsk.
Ha-wol, watching from above, slowly shook her head.
Those ones will not live long. Judging an opponent by looks alone. You must never swagger about like that, brat.
Even Rankers had to walk carefully. For climbers who had barely reached the second floor to strut like this? The ending wrote itself.
"Hyungnim!"
Hwang Dae-un forced himself upright and planted himself at Si-woon's side.
"Those bastards are pure scum!"
"Scum? The kid's got a mouth on him."
The gangsters snorted, but Hyun Si-woon did not spare them a glance.
"Hwang Dae-un."
"Yes."
"What happened. Keep it short."
"We ran into them while taking the second base. Just light provocation at first."
"Light provocation? Heh heh."
One of the thugs leered.
"Two of you waltzing onto the second floor and trying to freeload? Of course you pay the price."
"That price was filthy!"
"Filthy? What's filthy? You might not get it, but that bitch was free-riding the bus for real—wouldn't it be fairer to pay with her body? Why get so pissy about it?"
"……"
He did not need to hear another word. Hwang Dae-un's face flushed crimson.
"They kept spitting that garbage! But… I held back so they wouldn't go after Cha-yul noona. We were only going to clear the second floor and be done, so better not get tangled…"
His fists clenched white.
In truth he had no choice. Elite judoka or not, four heavier gangsters with weapons were not something he could simply overpower. Even a lucky win would have done nothing for their survival. So they kept moving.
Until—
"…Hyungnim, I really wanted to hit the hidden route you told us about—the Phantom Weapon Merchant. Once we clear we can't come back, so… I shared it with them. Said we should hunt it together."
The gangster leader's eyes glittered with naked greed.
"Heh heh heh! Yeah, I'm grateful for that. Got a nice show out of it. But you scarfed down the rare weapon yourself, didn't you?"
"I said we'd sell it and split! Who was the one demanding it for free? And that's not even half of it, Hyungnim! I even offered to just hand it over once we got outside and settle later—and you know what they said? They'd just kill us clean and take it. Items and TC drop when you die. Not only that—they tried to rape Cha-yul noona, so we fought!"
They fought. They were pushed back. Wounded, they fled together. Hid in the fog. A running chase followed.
"Yeah. I think I understand without the rest."
Hyun Si-woon gave a single nod. The fog had kept the gangsters from finding them; as time dragged they must have cleared by hunting the Phantom Horse first. That was why they had arrived so late.
Absolute garbage.
Not only Si-woon—every waiting party member burned with rage. This was a fury of an entirely different order from what they had felt toward Yu Jae-jun.
Brat.
Ha-wol's voice murmured from above.
You cannot let those kinds live. Spare them and they will only spread more harm—and one day they will become your problem as well.
Hers was not simple anger. It was a blood-stained law of survival, passed from master to disciple.
I know.
Whoosh!
Hyun Si-woon flicked his sword once, lightly, then looked at the swaggering gangsters.
"Any objections?"
His low voice held no rise or fall.
"What?"
A subtle light flickered in the boss's eyes; then he barked an arrogant laugh.
"Objections? What the hell did we do wrong that we need to object? Hahahaha! You milk-scented brats. There's no civilization or law left to protect you."
His gaze slid around the group, lingering with oily interest on Kang Si-a and Baek Do-hee.
"Boys, we're having fun today. Kill every man. Capture the women."
"Yes!"
"Hehehe! Yes, Boss!"
Further talk was meaningless. Their eyes held only greed and violence. Not a scrap of room for regret or defense. Even if there had been, he had no intention of forgiving.
"Hoo."
Hyun Si-woon drew a short breath. Ha-wol's counsel not to spare them circled through his mind.
Kill them, is it.
The weight of the word settled into reality. The men in front of him were flesh and blood—scum, yes, but living humans. He had never committed murder in the real world. If he had to count anything—
He had killed himself more than once.
Do not hesitate.
Ha-wol's rebuke cracked through his thoughts.
Why must you grow stronger? Is it not to protect your comrades and survive this brutal world? Then prove it. Your will! Your power! Disposing of that trash with your own hands is this master's first real combat lesson for you—and the first wall you must climb if you mean to live in this ruined world.
"Hyaaaaah!"
One gangster charged, sword raised high.
Swoooosh!
The blade came down hard toward Hyun Si-woon's crown. The motion held not a flicker of hesitation; the man had clearly killed many people before. Of course. Anyone who could commit evil this casually against complete strangers must have left a long trail of victims.
Clang!
The sword never reached him. Before the steel arrived, Kang Si-a's arrow slammed into the blade and knocked it aside.
"What—!"
Shock flooded the gangster's eyes. An arrow, mid-swing, striking a weapon cleanly? His hand was already tingling from the impact. A gap opened as a matter of course.
Oh no.
He saw it—Hyun Si-woon's merciless thrust driving straight for his throat.
N-No!
The two characters for despair carved themselves into his mind—
Thwuck!
Cold metal punched through his neck.
"Guh!"
He could not even scream. Windpipe and esophagus were pierced together. Hot, metallic liquid reverse-flowed and filled his mouth. Vision blurred; the world flushed red, then blacked out. Strength drained from every limb as he belatedly understood he was dying.
T-This is…
The last thing he saw was Hyun Si-woon's emotionless eyes as the young man pulled the sword free without a moment's pause.
Splash!
Blood fountained from the severed neck. The gangster's body jerked and spasmed, then crumpled lifeless to the ground.
Hyun Si-woon did not spare the corpse so much as a glance.
Thud!
He flicked the blood from his blade once, lightly, and looked at the three still living.
The time required to take a human life: three seconds.
"W-What—!"
"…What kind of movement…!"
The charging brutes froze. The sudden certainty that the man they had dismissed might be far beyond anything they had imagined locked every muscle in place.