Eden Camp (1)
"Hmph. Just as I thought."
Ha-wol appeared before Hyun Si-woon, toddling along in the air with tiny, quick steps.
What made her truly broken? She could freely roam within a fifty-meter radius of the Formless Sword without any restriction. And because she was a spirit, walls meant nothing to her—she passed straight through them.
Thanks to that, Si-woon could lay every scheme of his enemies out on the palm of his hand without ever risking himself.
"That Ma Gang-il bastard has fixed his eyes hard on the women among your companions—and on that Moonlight Bow."
As expected.
Si-woon wasn't even surprised. It was exactly what he had anticipated.
"He plans to spike the meal with the juice of a poisonous herb that clouds the mind, kill the men, and turn the women into his playthings. Classic low-grade trash behavior."
"Real nice pieces of shit. Thanks for the heads-up, Ha-wol."
After offering a brief word of gratitude, Si-woon went to his members and relayed everything Ha-wol had told him without omitting a detail.
"…These sons of bitches aren't even worth calling insects!"
Hwang Dae-un was the first to explode. His face flushed crimson, veins standing out sharp on the backs of his clenched fists. He looked ready to snatch up his blunt weapon and charge out to smash their skulls right then and there.
Beside him, Jang Cha-yul and Baek Yeon-ho's expressions had gone just as cold and hard.
"Settle down first."
Si-woon raised a hand to stop him.
"We should just barge in right now and twist those bastards' necks, Hyeong-nim!"
"We still don't know their exact strength. If we rush in and some variable crops up, it'll get messy."
"So we just sit here and take it?"
"No. We pretend to fall into their trap exactly as they planned. Then, while their guard is down, we hit them all at once. That's the surest way."
This wasn't about judging them as villains. What mattered was that they had tried to touch his people. That alone was more than enough reason for them to be removed.
"…Understood."
Dae-un still fumed, but he accepted Si-woon's words. The other members nodded silently as well. They swallowed their boiling rage and began waiting for the evening meal.
While they waited, Si-woon walked the perimeter of the camp.
The more he looked, the more impressive the place was.
The city camps run by Rankers were little more than commercial districts for farming TC. Flashy and convenient, yes—but what lingered there was complacency, not the fierce edge of survival.
Eden Camp was different.
They've cleared the wide empty grounds of the research complex and turned them into farmland.
Irrigation channels ran between neatly sectioned furrows, and all kinds of vegetables grew there. Off to one side, chickens and goats grazed lazily inside their pens, while solar panels sat on the roof of the neighboring building. Probably a dual system feeding power together with the emergency generators.
Everything had been meticulously planned and run for survival.
Self-sufficient, huh?
"These are some impressive bastards."
Even Ha-wol had to admire this part.
"When this lady was climbing, few ever carved out a foothold this solid. Most just scraped by day to day on plunder. Raising food, keeping livestock, and even solving their own power… It must be possible only because this place is a territory."
"Mm."
It certainly looked prosperous. But something else clearly lay beneath the surface.
"Ugh…"
The bent backs of the elderly bent over the fields. The exhausted shoulders of the women feeding the animals. The empty eyes of the men hauling heavy materials.
There was no vitality in their movements. They moved as if they had no choice.
"See those wounds?"
"Yeah. I see them."
The things that flickered into view: dark bruise stains peeking from under sleeves, cuts on cheeks hastily hidden by hair, limping gaits.
A false peace.
This was no utopia. It was only a mirage built on someone else's sacrifice. A world where that Ma Gang-il bastard reigned like a god.
Si-woon clenched his fist tight.
He would say it again: he was no saint. He had no grand sense of mission to right every injustice in the world.
But this was different.
Crushing the powerless and fattening himself on their pain—that was the kind of evil Si-woon despised. Yu Jae-jun had been that way. So had the thugs he met on the second floor. And now Ma Gang-il was cut from the same cloth.
Simply killing him might be too merciful.
Whoosh.
Si-woon turned his back.
How much time had passed?
A man who looked like one of Ma Gang-il's underlings entered the lodging with a large tray. He wore a friendly smile.
"Haha, you've been waiting, haven't you? It's nothing fancy, but this is our way of showing hospitality."
The tray was piled with steaming dishes. The star of the show was a whole chicken floating in milky broth—dak-baeksuk. And a free-range bird at that; it looked plenty meaty.
"…!"
To a party that had been surviving for days on combat rations and canned goods, it was a true feast. A rich, savory aroma filled the room.
"Please understand that we could only offer one chicken for six people. As you know, the world's in this state, and we fight hunger every single day ourselves. Honestly, this chicken was meant for the children's share of the residents. We set it aside specially. Still—how could we let valued guests go hungry?"
He skillfully uncorked a whiskey bottle, poured glasses, and casually offered drinks.
"Eat your fill. We prepared liquor too, so shake off the travel fatigue tonight."
Gulp.
The sound of someone swallowing was unusually loud. They knew with their heads that they must not eat this food, but instinct refused to listen. The mouthwatering smell stabbing their noses and the hunger signals from their worn-out bodies were enough to paralyze reason.
"Is it really all right for us to accept something this precious? If it's no trouble, why don't Ma Gang-il and the others join us as well?"
Si-woon said politely. The underling laughed and waved a hand.
"Haha, we've already eaten our fill. Guests come first. Well then—enjoy yourselves."
He turned without lingering and left the lodging.
The moment the door shut, Jang Cha-yul muttered low.
"Not that they already ate—more like they never got to eat."
"Food is that precious, and they're using it for a trick? Real bastards."
Anger colored Baek Do-hee's voice as well.
Hwang Dae-un simply stared at the chicken stew with a pained look.
"Ah, Hyeong-nim. I swear… even knowing, I still want to eat it. That smell is insane. Can't we just eat it and die?"
"Shh."
Si-woon pressed a finger to his own lips.
"Quiet. He hasn't gone far yet."
Rustle.
Si-woon pulled a large plastic bag he had prepared earlier from his clothes. Without hesitation he stripped the meat from the chicken and dumped it into the bag. The team followed his lead and quietly disposed of the rest of the food. They also tipped the whiskey bottle little by little onto the floor so the level would look reduced.
"Everyone lie down. Keep your weapons within reach. Play dead while staying ready to counterattack."
Si-woon gave the final order.
"When I shout 'Now!' and jump up, that's the start of the counter. Until then, no matter what happens, stay still like corpses."
The party nodded without a word and lay down in their places. Of course, each tightly gripped their own weapon.
How much more time passed?
The noise outside dwindled, and pitch-black silence settled over them.
And then—
"…!"
Slide.
The lodging door opened without a sound, and three shadows carefully stepped inside.
"Six of them total. The other three are waiting outside."
Ha-wol's voice, watching from the air, rang inside Si-woon's head.
Okay.
Si-woon gave the slightest nod with his eyes still closed.
Their whispers reached him.
"Heh heh, they're all out cold, hyung-nim?"
"Looks good on the idiots. They cleaned up every scrap of that precious food. Just cut the men's throats here, and tie the women up tight to haul them to hyung-nim's room."
"Keh-heh, mind if I sample them a bit before we move them? There's still a chain of command, so just a little…"
One of them cracked a filthy joke as he approached Baek Do-hee.
The three had already dropped their guard completely.
Through half-lidded eyes, Si-woon measured the perfect angle. The carotid artery of the man standing closest came into sharp focus.
Swoosh—!
There was no signal.
A sharp whistle of air being cut—that was the beginning.
Slash!
"Gahk?"
Blood fountained from the man's throat.
"Wh-what the—?"
In the instant the other two men's brains froze in shock—
"Now!"
Si-woon's body sprang up like a coiled spring. At the same signal, the five teammates sprawled on the floor rose as one.
Never treat Climbers like ordinary people.
Si-woon had not let his guard down for a single moment. No matter how ragtag these men looked, they were beings who had clearly received the blessing of stats from the Tower's system. They possessed physical abilities ordinary people could never reach even with a lifetime of training.
And more than that—had they not survived the Tower of Despair, infamous for its extreme difficulty?
So make it clean. And fast.
Thud!
Hwang Dae-un's blunt weapon caved in one man's skull. Jang Cha-yul's spear punched through another's chest.
Thwack!
At the same time, Kang Si-a's arrow buried itself dead-center in that man's brow.
A one-sided slaughter completed in mere seconds.
The total volume of stats forged by the Moon Spirit Elixir and the depth of martial arts tempered under Ha-wol's teaching were on a level that people who had barely cleared the third floor could never hope to gauge.
"Outside."
Si-woon barked the short order and kicked the lodging door open as he charged out. The teammates swiftly followed on his heels.
The three waiting outside.
Among them, Ma Gang-il's brow furrowed slightly.
Something felt off.
The faint screams from inside he could ignore—maybe the doped fools thrashing a bit. But that short, decisive shout just now? That was not that kind of sound.
Warning lights flared in Ma Gang-il's mind. The beast-like instinct honed through countless crises was screaming.
This was a trap.
"Brown Bear! Crow!"
"Yes!"
"Yessir!"
"Draw weapons and prepare for combat!"
The instant he shouted, the lodging door exploded outward from the inside as if smashed to pieces.
Boom!
Six shadows burst out amid flying wood splinters, reeking of blood. At their head stood Hyun Si-woon, eyes cold as ice.
Already?
Ma Gang-il was mildly flustered. The three underlings who had gone inside—they too were men who had survived the hell of the third floor alongside him. For those three to be cleaned up this fast, even in a surprise attack…?
It made no sense.
And if it was possible, that meant—
They lied.
Ma Gang-il's lips twisted. These people had been hiding their true colors from the start. Even going so far as to claim they had barely cleared the second floor.
A head-on fight might be risky…
In a fraction of a second his mind spun like lightning. He scanned the surroundings.
Perhaps having heard the commotion, lights were coming on across the camp and murmuring voices rose. And right nearby happened to be a slender young girl—Seo Yu-na, the older sister of that Yu-jin kid.
Thud!
Ma Gang-il kicked off the ground and closed the distance to the girl in an instant. His movement was as fast and relentless as a predatory beast.
"Kyaa!"
The girl's hair was roughly seized in Ma Gang-il's grip.
"Wh-what are you doing?!"
Baek Do-hee's cry of horror from farther away. To Ma Gang-il it was a signal flare that planted certainty.
Hostage tactics work.
Ma Gang-il pressed the cold edge of a blade against the girl's throat.
"You filthy outsiders…"
He ground his teeth as he glared at Si-woon.
"I treated you as guests! In this harsh world I offered precious food and a place to sleep, and you repay kindness with enmity? You kill my comrades and shatter the peace of this Eden?"
Ma Gang-il pressed the blade even tighter to the girl's neck.
"Drop those filthy weapons right now and get out of this camp. Otherwise this child dies."