episode_0027

“Hello. I’m Bae Yeongchil.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Cheon Sangil.”

As they greeted each other warmly and shook hands, they appeared to be in good spirits on the surface. However, their true intentions were quite the opposite.

“Thanks to my abilities, all my physical stats are at least Grade D, over 90.”

“If I can easily handle his strength without arrogance, his physical stats must be Grade C…”

Watching them quickly assess each other with these thoughts running through their minds, the onlookers, unaware of the situation, nervously observed the rest of the people.

“Haha… You seem to be the leader of the group.”

“It just happened that way. But what about you?”

“I ended up the same way. Haha…”

“Judging by how they’re wary of this person, they haven’t joined this group yet.”

“They must be the leader of the group that fled. I must find out their position.”

“If they interfere with taking the child, I must deal with them first. Judging by the knives in the air, his abilities are telekinesis and physical combat…”

Observing each other cautiously and sparing words, their eyes moving like they were assessing each other, their behavior was eerily similar to animals in a documentary sizing each other up before a fight.

“But these people stole food from us and ran away. If they haven’t joined Cheon Sangil’s group, can we take them…”

“Oh, no! Cheon Sangil! Those people are evil, they rape powerless women and devour others! Please save us!”

Pointing at the man desperately refuting the calm leader, the leader sighed quietly and gestured behind to discreetly signal to handle the situation.

Swish-

However, Cheon Sangil, who didn’t feel the gesture, and seemed to anticipate this situation, suddenly found a small dagger piercing his neck.

“It pierced through my tough skin so easily…!”

Sensing the imminent danger, he yelled to stop the group’s discreet attack from behind.

“Wait!”

Raising his hand urgently to halt the attack towards Cheon Sangil, the leader bowed his head and apologized to him.

“I’m sorry. But we need that child. And that man’s words are all lies…”

Impressed by his quick apology, I became more curious about the group he led and made the non-dead leader raise his head to find their group.

“Raise your head.”

As he slowly raised his head, his eyes were filled with astonishment at my power rather than fear. I asked him about the group’s location with an intrigued gaze.

“Can you tell me where the people led by Yeongchil are?”

“They are living in a department store at the intersection.”

“Let’s go there first and find out what’s going on in detail.”

Apologizing to the people who expected me to lead them to paradise, I led them, saying that the journey to paradise might be longer than expected.

“Why do we have to go back…!”

“It’s natural for me to deal with villains in order to save the world.”

“They’re the bad guys, we’re just victims!”

“I’ll listen to both sides of the story and make a judgment.”

“What gives you the right…!”

Swoosh-

As multiple knives aimed at him came into view, I quietly lowered my voice, checked the group of men following us, and moved towards the department store.

Crash!

Thud-

On the way to the department store, I slaughtered the zombies attacking us, demonstrating my strength, and listened carefully to their story.

“So, Yeongchil’s words are that they came to catch those who killed a woman’s husband, stole their food, and ran away with a child who awakened the necessary abilities for the group, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“And Daun’s words are that the husband was violent towards the woman even before, and he only killed her because she tried to kill her with a knife. The food wasn’t stolen, it was the food they had collected so far.”

As I finished speaking, the man named Idawn nodded slightly.

“The child is the woman’s daughter, so it’s natural for her to bring her along, right? Did I understand correctly?”

“Yes… that’s correct.”

In fact, if I wanted to make things easier for myself in the group’s position, killing them all would be a good way.

However, by putting in a little effort to reveal that neither of them are villains, I could gain strong favor from the people in the group and show a righteous image to those who are watching my actions. So, I would do that without hesitation.

“Then I will enter Yeongchil’s group and live there for a while to listen to the people in the group and make a judgment.”

From now on, entering the group, enchanting its people, and returning to the new world as their leader, the divine operation had begun.

“Here is the department store.”

The place the group arrived at was a department store operated by a famous corporation before the world’s destruction.

“Let’s go in then.”

Following Baek Yeongchil’s guidance, they entered the department store, where the space with stairs was completely blocked off so that no one could pass through.

Instead, there were escalators going up and down that allowed you to check your surroundings as you descended or ascended, serving as the only entrance to the second floor and the underground second floor.

Thump-thump-

Only the sound of our footsteps echoed loudly in the large department store.

“Butt Kimchi Stew.”

As they stopped in front of the escalator and Baek Yeongchil suddenly started talking nonsense, someone else continued the nonsense.

“Paris notebook.”

“472 million.”

As they quickly exchanged words that sounded like a password, the flow of magic that could be felt on the second, third, and fourth floors slowly disappeared, and at the same time, Baek Yeongchil led them up the escalator.

“Is that a password?”

“Yes, because the lower floors of the department store can be dark and there may be people with the ability to mimic appearances, I made it simple.”

Watching Baek Yeongchil, who was excellent as a leader as I had seen before, I slightly enhanced the ability I had been using discreetly from the beginning.

“From the first floor to the fifth floor, it’s a space made to block unknown people or zombies. And from the seventh floor to the ninth floor, it’s the living space for us. The tenth floor is under construction to create a space for exercise or leisure activities like a movie theater for us to relax.”

Listening to the explanation about the group living in the department store, they quickly reached the sixth floor and saw people waving and welcoming them, feeling a bit awkward.

“Oh… it’s the first time so many survivors have come at once.”

“Welcome, if you want to rest, come here and take a break.”

“If you want to wash up, you can use the restroom over there to wash up.”

Looking at the kind people, except for Jang Cheonsu who seemed uncertain, after telling them to act freely, I followed Baek Yeongchil and continued to follow him up to the ninth floor.

“You said there were exactly 263 people, right? But it seems like there are less than 200 people in the department store right now?”

“The people who are not in the department store right now are exploring other areas to hunt zombies and earn points.”

Just now, Baek Yeongchil’s words meant that there were at least 60 awakened individuals who could hunt zombies.

“And take this.”

Handing him the food bag purchased from the store, he looked at me with surprise.

“Why did you…?”

“If it’s true that Daun stole the food, then I’m giving it to you instead.”

“So, Down has the food, and Down makes sure to have it.”

“Yes… Of course.”

Using my points, I resolved the superficial issues between Baek Yeong-chil and Lee Da-eun, then separated from Baek Yeong-chil’s group to go downstairs to the department store to talk to the people there.

“Hello there.”

“Oh… I’m already Im Mi-yeong. Hehe.”

As I descended to the 8th floor, two women chatting near the escalator greeted me.

“I’m Cheon Sang-il. Nice to meet you all. Haha.”

As I approached the smiling women, they nervously bit their lips and looked tense.

“If it’s okay with you two, could you tell me a little about this place? I don’t know much about it.”

“Of course!”

“Feel free to ask.”

Although I had asked Baek Yeong-chil about the department store on the way there and gained some information, I still wanted to confirm with the two women as I wasn’t sure how much of it was true or if he had intentionally withheld information.

“What does this person, Baek Yeong-chil, do?”

And in the exchange of questions and answers, I engaged in conversation with the two women, hoping to gain their favor and increase their trust in me, just like when I first visited the elderly home.

“Um… Yeong-chil goes out to hunt zombies and shares food with us using the points he earns. And um… he also holds meetings for the people… and um… if any problems arise, he solves them. What else was there…?”

The timid woman with glasses, who had been hesitant to reveal her name from the beginning, seemed unable to provide a proper explanation.

“May I explain on her behalf?”