Trusting Auntie Min-jung's Killer Instinct and Stirring Up Trouble [Battle with the Outlaws][1]
"This place is basically a neutral zone. There's no reason for a barricade that big to be set up here... What the hell????"
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Geum Tae-yang muttered in confusion as he reexamined the barricade map he had carefully drawn while scouting the streets of Hanseong Metropolitan City.
"I heard you say the exact same thing, Tae-yang. So don't freak out—your memory isn't wrong."
Kim Min-jung's voice overflowed with affection for him. Tae-yang felt both enormous responsibility and enormous pride on this expedition. Leading the women he loved—Kim Min-jung and Park A-young—on their first major outing had his male ego swelling hard. Min-jung had watched over that pride with quiet support the whole way, so seeing him this flustered now made her heart ache. She did everything she could to soothe his panic.
"Hmm..."
Park A-young, on the other hand, stared ahead with a bored expression. They were roughly 150 meters from the hastily erected barricade, watching from behind a solid structure.
"The scale is impressive, but it looks like they threw it together in a rush. Doesn't seem like they expected us specifically, either."
A-young was reading the scene around the barricade, trying to figure out why it had been put up. Its size and apparent durability were enough to make Tae-yang's group stop dead. Yet the whole thing felt slapdash—nothing about it suggested careful planning over plenty of time.
"This is a rough breakdown of the power struggles between the survival camps around here."
She handed her phone to Tae-yang.
"There's a camp called Jjam Tiger. Relatively small, but aggressive as hell. Kind of halfway between a regular survival camp and a bunch of outlaws."
"I'm guessing they set this up to seize the initiative on a rainy day. When it rains, zombie behavior gets weird, so normal camps go passive. They were counting on that."
She laid out her analysis in detail. In one corner of the barricade was a mark that looked deliberately placed—the emblem of the aggressive Jjam Tiger camp. Combining that with every mention of them on the online boards and the local camp conflicts, A-young's conclusion was solid.
"Yeah... that tracks. Outlaw-leaning camps were always pretty chill about the 'rain activates zombie smell' theory. They roam around enough that they've actually seen it happen."
"So under that theory, A-young's right—there's a real chance they put this barricade up for exactly that reason."
Nod...! Nod...! Nod...!
Tae-yang immediately started digging through the boards for anything on Jjam Tiger. What he found was pure trolling from people who looked like members. The tone of their posts and the quality of the info they dropped put them firmly in the outlaw camp category.
"Looking at stuff like this, maybe taking forever to verify everything before you move isn't always the smart play. These idiots just charged in blind and somehow it worked."
Grinning, A-young turned back to the barricade Jjam Tiger had built. The slight curl of her lips said it all: the careful, by-the-book survival camps that waited for perfect intel had lost to the ones who half-assed their intel and just shoved forward. That was interesting.
"And life's full of twists, huh? They got the right answer, sure—but I don't think that answer is going to work out great for them."
Looking around! Looking around! Looking around!
With A-young's help, Tae-yang finished reading the situation. His expression turned serious again as he scanned the surroundings.
"Hmm... there he is. Guy managing the barricade. Of course they wouldn't leave it empty."
He rubbed his chin while staring up at a three-story rooftop. The barricade was heavy steel—tough enough that most cars would bounce right off. They'd put real work into it. Even with the rain, it was weird that no one was guarding it. After a thorough look, he spotted a Jjam Tiger member keeping watch from a distance.
"But... this just feels like an auntie thing, kids..."
Kim Min-jung, who had been quietly listening to her husband and daughter, spoke up carefully. She was the furthest thing from a bossy auntie; she preferred watching and listening over pushing her own opinions. That caution showed in her voice.
"Yes, Auntie! Got something on your mind about this? What is it?"
Tae-yang knew her personality well. The moment she opened her mouth during his talk with A-young, he gave her full, enthusiastic attention.
"It feels like a trap to me... like they're trying to lure someone in."
With the floor opened for her, Min-jung's eyes sparkled as she shared her thoughts.
"Oh... now that you mention it..."
Swish...
"Yeah. You could definitely see it that way..."
Looking around...! Looking around...!
Tae-yang looked intrigued and turned back to the barricade. A-young also rechecked the surroundings and nodded along with her mother.
"I was actually wondering why they'd bother posting a lookout on a rooftop like that. Like Auntie said, it feels like they set a snare and are just waiting for someone to walk into it—even with the rain."
"Right, Tae-yang? Like you said, there's no reason not to use an umbrella unless they're trying to stay hidden."
Tae-yang pointed out the Jjam Tiger lookout on the three-story roof to Min-jung. The guy wasn't using an umbrella or even a shiny rain poncho. His clothes were clearly chosen to blend in. He kept only his face exposed, watching the area through a pair of binoculars.
"They're looking for a spark to start a fight. If someone gets snagged and causes a problem, they'll use that as an excuse to attack while the other camps are too busy to form an alliance."
"The approach routes Jjam Tiger would use are cleaned out really well. The second that rooftop guy radios in, reinforcements will come running."
While Tae-yang and Min-jung talked, A-young checked every path connected to the barricade. The setup for quick mobility on Jjam Tiger's side was obvious.
"What do you want to do, Tae-yang? Take another route around?"
Once they agreed the barricade 150 meters ahead was a trap, Min-jung asked about their next move.
"If these guys are this hungry to cause trouble, we're going to run into them eventually, Auntie. If that's the case, better to finish it while we still have the initiative."
Tae-yang abandoned his earlier hope of reaching Jo Yu-mi's camp without incident. Right now the geometry favored them—they could hit Jjam Tiger first. If a clash was inevitable, he was going to apply the first-strike-wins rule.
"A-young, what do you think? Can this Reinforced Custom Hummer smash through that barricade?"
The plan was simple: destroy the barricade and then run. He looked at A-young in the driver's seat with a slight challenge in his voice. If the Hummer hit that wall and failed to break through, it wouldn't be a first strike—it would be suicide. He was demanding a clean breakthrough.
"Of course. If it can't wreck something that size, how could I call it an alchemy-enhanced item?"
Grinning with pure confidence, A-young tightened her grip on the wheel.
"Okay. Auntie, seatbelt on. A-young, floor it. Let's punch through that barricade."
Click!
Tae-yang buckled up. Even he couldn't fully predict the impact between the barricade and the Reinforced Custom Hummer, so he prepared carefully.
"O-okay, Tae-yang. Our daughter needs to be careful too, right?"
Click!
"I know, Mom. Don't worry."
Min-jung immediately fastened her seatbelt at his request, still fretting over her daughter who had to do the actual driving.
"Looks like the rooftop guy spotted us too. Flooring it now."
A-young's final sweep of the area caught the Jjam Tiger lookout swinging his binoculars toward the parked Reinforced Custom Hummer.
She stomped the accelerator without hesitation.
—Vroooooooooooooooooom!!!!
The Reinforced Custom Hummer carrying Tae-yang's group surged forward with its massive frame.
"!!!!!???????"
The lookout on the roof shot to his feet in shock.
What the hell are these people??? Doesn't look like anyone from the local camps???
He frantically dug into his jacket pocket for the radio to call for backup. Even from the roof, Tae-yang's Reinforced Custom Hummer was charging the barricade 150 meters away like it intended to ram it. The bad feeling hit hard.
Shit!!! We're about to hit! Up close this barricade looks even more solid!!!
Tae-yang's hands got busy too. He took a deep breath and braced himself against the passenger seat. The Jjam Tiger barricade had been built specifically to stop vehicles. Its durability looked serious from a distance—and once they closed inside 50 meters, he finally understood why they'd only posted one lookout.
"!!!!!!!!?????????????"
In that instant Tae-yang's pupils blew wide open.
"!!!!!!!!!!!?????????????"
The Jjam Tiger member who had just raised his radio wore the exact same expression.
—Whoooooooooooooooooosh!!!!
The moment the Reinforced Custom Hummer entered visual range of the impact, a blue protective barrier began forming around its heavy body.
"I told you. When it takes a hit, the ride gets even smoother."
A-young's relaxed smile said everything. It was one of the special abilities she had granted through alchemy magic—a mana shield.
—KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!!!!!
Wrapped in that magnificent mana barrier, Tae-yang's Reinforced Custom Hummer charged full speed and slammed straight into the Jjam Tiger camp's barricade.