[Episode 03] Hunting (1)
After finishing their meal, Ha Dong-geon’s party first went down to the first floor of the apartment.
“Dong-geon. Is there really a need to check the first floor? When I looked earlier, the windows were all broken and the condition was terrible.”
“But we still have to check. Did you hear what Jaehyun said? We’re here as a rescue team.”
Their first task was to find all the survivors spread throughout Building 114 and bring them up to the 30th floor.
Kim Gun asked, pushing up his glasses.
“···But is it really necessary to search for survivors? I think it would be okay to just start the operation.”
Then Moon Byung-ho opened his mouth and gave him a cold look.
“Are you doubting him now?”
“···No, that’s not it. What I mean is···”
At that time, Ha Dong-geon stepped forward and conveyed Kim Jae-hyeon’s intentions.
“As you all know, the key to this operation is to lure a large number of goblins into this apartment. If everything goes according to plan and we can take care of them all, that’s great, but if we make a mistake, the survivors on each floor could be in danger. That’s why you want to take preventive measures before that happens.”
In fact, Kim Jae-hyun had never given such an explanation, but Ha Dong-geon’s words sounded plausible.
“Such a profound meaning! It’s a task to ensure the safety of the survivors! Okay, okay!”
Kang Deok-su nodded vigorously and continued speaking.
“I knew from my first impression that he was an extraordinary person, but I think he is truly a great person.”
Two women clapped in agreement with his words.
“That’s right, that’s right.”
“Don’t you think he’s really handsome?”
“Ooh. What is it, Yoo Hye-rin? Are you interested?”
“Hmm. A little?”
“Look at this. Does it seem sincere?”
“Sister. I’ve been single for three years. I think it’s time to start dating.”
“Hahaha. That’s really funny.”
Kim Gun looked around his group with a slightly uncomfortable expression.
‘···Everyone is weird.’
I couldn’t understand how I could trust this man so much after knowing him for so long.
‘···I admit that he certainly seems like a nice person and has good abilities···.’
Kim Geon was the type of person who didn’t usually trust people.
He prioritizes rational judgment over emotion and values logical thinking, so his friends’ conditions seemed strangely strange to him.
‘···Especially that bastard Moon Byung-ho.’
It was as if I had become a fanatic of that man, perhaps because he had said he would help save my grandmother.
At that time, Ha Dong-geon opened his mouth.
“Let’s stop chitchat and get started. Everyone, stay alert, because you never know when a goblin might pop out.”
“okay.”
“Yes~.”
That’s how the search for survivors began.
“Let’s start from room 101.”
Fortunately, it wasn’t difficult to get into the unit on the first floor.
It was thanks to the fact that the front doors of both rooms 101 and 102 were wide open.
“Ugh···.”
The condition of the units on the first floor was much worse than expected.
Once home to a group of goblins, Room 101 was in a state not much different from a wild cave.
Although they only stayed for a few days, the traces left behind by dozens of goblins were more intense than one could imagine.
“Ugh. Smell.”
The excrement and leftover corpses they had eaten were rotting away, giving off a terrible stench.
“Let’s start searching.”
Even without Ha Dong-geon giving any specific instructions, everyone dispersed and looked around the interior.
“There is no one here.”
“This room too.”
“Same here.”
Just when the search was about to end without any significant results.
“Ugh. Ughhh!”
While checking the inner room, Yoo Hye-rin could be heard throwing up all the dinner she had just eaten.
Ha Dong-geon, who rushed to Yoo Hye-rin’s side, couldn’t help but frown deeply when he discovered something.
“Hye-rin, are you okay?”
“Oh, sis. Over there, over there, there are people’s corpses…”
Inside the bathroom, there were layers of human corpses that the goblins had eaten.
So many people had died that there appeared to be dozens of corpses in the bathroom alone.
I had seen human corpses during the ten days I had been fighting goblins, but this was the first time I had seen such a brutal sight.
Hadong Geon said.
“···It looks like there’s no one here, so let’s move on.”
The situation in Room 102 wasn’t much different.
The entire house was filled with broken objects, and in the corner of the bathroom, human corpses were piled high and rotting.
The only good thing is that we didn’t encounter any goblins during our search.
“······Let’s go up to the second floor.”
The situation on the second floor wasn’t much different.
Since the structure was such that it was easy to break into from the outside by breaking the glass window, it was inevitably exposed to the goblins.
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Things got better from the third floor onwards.
The hallway seemed to be filled with goblin excrement and urine, but the front door was firmly shut.
Knock knock knock
Hadong Geon knocked lightly and then spoke.
“Are you a survivor?”
Knock knock knock
“If you are inside, please respond!”
However, from the third floor onwards, problems arose in a different sense.
Since there is no way to open the solid iron door, it is impossible to go inside and check.
So, I had no choice but to give up after trying it a few times and not getting any response.
“Let’s go up.”
That was when I arrived at the 5th floor.
Knock knock knock!
“Are you there? We’ve come to the rescue! If you’re inside, please respond!”
At that time, I knocked on the door without much expectation.
Crunch.
The door opened for the first time.
But it wasn’t completely open.
The door was fitted with a safety catch to prevent it from being opened by force from the outside.
A man stuck his head out through a slightly open door, glanced at Ha Dong-geon and his group, and then asked.
“Am I really a rescue team member?”
“you’re right.”
The man demanded, his eyes still suspicious.
“Well, can you give me some water? I’m really thirsty.”
At those words, Ha Dong-geon took out a 2L bottle of Samdasoo from his backpack and handed it to him.
“Here it is.”
When Ha Dong-geon handed him the water without saying anything, the man looked at him blankly as if he was surprised, then asked again.
“Are you a real rescue team?”
“We are not a government agency, but we have come to rescue the survivors in this apartment. If you join us, you will not have to worry about water or food.”
The man stared at Ha Dong-geon for a moment, then closed the door with a determined expression on his face.
“······.”
And after a while the door opened again.
Crash
The second door that was opened had no lock on it.
Behind the man standing in front of the front door, a boy who looked to be in high school and a girl who looked to be in middle school were standing awkwardly.
“I don’t know what you mean, but I’ll believe you. Are you saying that if I follow you, I won’t have to worry about food?”
“Of course.”
The man nodded and held out his hand.
“My name is Hong Jeong-su. Please take good care of me.”
After shaking hands briefly, Ha Dong-geon gave instructions to his group.
“Gayoung and Hyelin. You take them to the 30th floor and then meet back up.”
“huh.”
“yes.”
Hong Jeong-su hesitated and asked after hearing that.
“The 30th floor? Shouldn’t it go to the first floor?”
Hong Jeong-su, who had been hiding in the house since the monsters appeared, was completely unaware of the current situation.
Then his daughter, who was next to him, opened her mouth.
“Dad, you too. The helicopter must have come. Get up quickly.”
The daughter was equally unaware of the situation.
Kim Ga-young said to them.
“No, that’s not it, but if you go up, you can eat a warm meal and take a shower.”
The one who reacted to those words was Hong Jeong-su’s son.
“A shower?! Really?!”
Kim Ga-young smiled brightly at him and answered.
“Yes. And with warm water too.”
Then the son urged Hong Jeong-su.
“What are you doing, Dad? Let’s go up quickly.”
“Oh, yeah. Okay.”
***
[The number of citizens reached 90.]
[Experience points and settlement money earned by citizens increase by 90%.]
This brings the number of citizens to 93.
I checked the specs of the new members through the citizen management window, but there was no one special.
‘Is it true that out of 93 people, only one person has awakened their ability?’
Hadonggeon was the only one who had the ability to awaken.
‘But there seem to be some people who seem quite useful, so I think we should form a separate team.’
Among the 83 people that Ha Dong-geon has rescued so far, there were some who were of a fairly high level.
What they had in common was that they all had toned bodies thanks to consistent self-management.
Among them, there was a man who was level 15, and his whole body was filled with muscles, so it seemed like he was a bodybuilder.
‘The Eyes of the Absolute.’
As I used my skill, I looked down at the emergency exit. There, six new members were standing there, catching their breath.
“This way.”
Following Ha Dong-geon’s instructions, the place they headed to was, as expected, Choi Hyeong-jun’s house.
Choi Hyeong-jun’s house had its front door wide open, so the view inside the house was visible.
The first thing that caught my eye was the countless shoes that filled the entire hallway.
There were so many of them that there was a long line of shoes outside the front door.
It was like looking at the entrance of a room that was especially crowded during a university MT.
“You can just come inside.”
“···yes.”
Of course, what was even more spectacular was the scenery inside the house.
The house was filled with a huge crowd, as if a house party was being held.
It was inevitable, as over 90 people came into a small space of about 30 pyeong at most.
Most people were standing because there wasn’t enough space to sit or lie down properly.
Choi Hyeong-jun’s house has been completely transformed into a shelter for survivors.
“Anyone who didn’t receive a rice ball?!”
“Over here! It’s our turn!”
“Could you please hand these to them?”
Moreover, Park Hye-won became a restaurant owner and was constantly cooking.
In one corner of the kitchen, Choi Na-yeon and Choi Seo-yeon, who should have been sleeping in the bedroom, were sitting close together, dozing off.
I was suddenly kicked out of the room due to the appearance of uninvited guests.
‘······I’m a little sorry.’
Still, there was nothing I could do.
I would have liked to have invited some of them into my house, but the only people who were allowed into my house were me and Choi Hyeong-jun, who was registered as a guest.
‘Should I bring the kids?’
Choi Hyeong-jun’s entire family was currently able to register as deceased.
This meant that not only trust level 50, but also loyalty level 30 had been surpassed.
I wanted to take the two children in as my new parents right away and put them to bed, but I couldn’t bring myself to do that.
‘What a waste.’
The moment you register as a vassal, your level will increase significantly and you will gain special abilities.
Not only that, but they were twice as efficient in earning experience points and money as other citizens.
I had to endure it because I couldn’t let kids who hadn’t even entered elementary school hunt monsters.
‘The registration for the party must be used for the Hadonggun party.’
Or, I was thinking of accepting as vassals those who had newly joined and were of high level.
♬♪♬♩~
The bell rang and the Absolute’s Eye skill was released.
Then he went to the front door and opened it.
‘Open up.’
The one who rang the bell was Ha Dong-geon, and he came into the front door.
Since he had not yet obtained the qualifications of a vassal, the space allowed to him was limited to that area, so he stood there and began to report.
“The people who have joined now are the last survivors.”
“Have you already been to all the floors?”
“Yes. I just checked the 29th floor and am on my way back.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
It’s a shame we couldn’t get to 100, but 93 isn’t a bad number.
‘Choi Hyung-jun’s house is almost full, so this should be enough.’
A whopping 90% bonus experience points.
Even if you divide 70% to each of Hadonggeon’s parties, you can gain experience points worth up to 120%.
“wait a minute.”
Standing in front of Hadonggun, I closed my eyes and used my skill.
‘The Eyes of the Absolute.’
This time, the place where the Absolute’s eyes were used was not the corner of the house, but where Choi Hyeong-jun was.
He was working hard on something on the emergency stairs.
It was a job that involved hard cutting and peeling things off, reattaching them, and laying them on the floor of the stairs.
After concentrating for a while, he straightened his back and stood up.
‘Release the Eyes of the Absolute.’
All preparations are complete.
I said with a meaningful smile towards Ha Dong-geon.
“Then let’s move on to Goblin Hunting Step Two.”
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