There were quite a few usable things at the water sports center.
Junho ordered them to collect almost everything except household items, focusing especially on electronics.
It was not that his shelter lacked electronics, but even if the items were used, the parts inside them would be fairly useful.
“What should we do about things like Jet Skis or motorboats? Are we taking them?”
At Yoon Seolhee’s question, Junho shook his head.
“We’ll come back later, disassemble the bulky stuff, and take it then. Move the ones floating in the river inside the building. For now, we only need to take the electronics.”
Jet Skis and motorboats that ran on fuel rather than electricity {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} were too loud to use.
However, the parts inside them—especially the various motors—were extremely useful, so Junho moved them deeper into the water sports center and covered them carefully with waterproof tarps.
'Youngsu and Hail are going to love this.'
He had heard the two of them were still obsessed with making and modifying turrets and drones these days. Of course, that was work Junho had asked them to do.
In his shelter, where people—and especially combat personnel—were in short supply, turrets and drones could replace the work of several people.
“......?”
As Junho was lifting and moving Jet Skis weighing over two hundred kilograms one by one, he saw someone standing still, staring blankly at one place.
It was Lee Chaerin, Blossom’s visual member. Even in brown work clothes, her curvy figure stood out, making her look the most like an entertainer among them.
She was famous enough that even Junho, who had no real interest in idols, recognized her face from various advertisements. But none of that mattered to Junho right now.
What mattered was that an SCV was taking a break on her own.
“What are you doing? What are you looking at?”
“Eek!? Oh, um... it’s just.”
Lee Chaerin, who had jumped in shock, soon flushed bright red and fumbled for words before continuing in a voice that nearly disappeared.
“That duck boat over there... I haven’t ridden one since I was little. Back then, I rode one with my parents, and it made me think of that. I’m sorry....”
Well, even if she was an adult and a popular idol, she was still only twenty-one years old.
She did not even know whether her family was alive or dead, and at the resort, she had nearly suffered something horrible at the hands of a beast whose head had been swallowed by his lower half.
The fact that she was holding herself together and working hard even in a situation like this was impressive in itself.
“A duck boat... Bringing one or two would be good.”
“Pardon?”
“We need them. Ask the soldiers to pull out just two.”
“Ah... yes, yes!”
Lee Chaerin’s face brightened at once. She nodded hard, then went over to the soldiers who had started helping on their own despite being told not to.
At that, the young soldiers began working like lightning, looking as disciplined as if they had received orders from a division commander.
“Why the duck boats?”
When Yoon Seolhee came over and asked casually, Junho turned his head toward her.
“There’s a fairly large reservoir near the shelter. We fish for freshwater fish there every week. Deokcheol is really good at fishing. Anyway, I think if we take those back and modify them, they’ll be useful for fishing.”
“Ah, I thought....”
“Yes?”
“No. It’s nothing.”
She could not exactly say she had thought he was trying to look good in front of Lee Chaerin like the other men at the resort had, so Yoon Seolhee shook her head.
Then again, even in the past, and even now after reuniting in a world like this, Junho still did not seem very interested in women.
Of course, she had not expected him to be indifferent even to Lee Chaerin, who was included on lists like the Four Great Idol Queens or the Four Heavenly Kings of Idols.
“It looks like we’re almost done, so let’s start getting ready to move.”
“Yes, understood.”
Yoon Seolhee headed toward the combat personnel, and Junho checked once more over the looted goods loaded onto the utility cart and the electric carts the gangsters had been using.
Feeling full without having eaten, Junho naturally grew satisfied. And the Blossom members, who had been glancing at him, thought:
'Did we lose to monitors and refrigerators?'
'We even lost to duck boats....'
For some reason, with a mix of resentment and disappointment, they resolved to work even harder once they reached the shelter.
***
Six electric carts carrying people and all kinds of supplies slowly moved along the mountain path.
Four belonged to his shelter, and two belonged to the platoon heading to Yeongho-ri.
Since Lee Seokjin’s unit already had a secured route, they were extremely grateful to Junho, who had separately loaded the two electric carts with various supplies for them.
Junho had even handed over two drones sent from the shelter and a six-kilowatt power tank.
One of the soldiers had flown drones as a hobby before enlisting, and besides, all the drones had to do was fix their altitude, enter follow mode, and float above the troops while following them. There was no difficulty in operating them.
Both drones could fly for over thirty minutes. If they operated them by having one drone follow the soldiers and monitor the surroundings from above while the other waited to recharge, they should be able to reach Yeongho-ri safely.
“Use this to contact us when you’re about to arrive. From Yeongho-ri onward, our wireless signal reaches.”
“Ah, is that so? Thank you very much.”
The sergeant, the platoon leader of the troops, accepted the radio and headset Junho handed him and bowed repeatedly, extremely grateful.
“You’ll have wireless communication, and by then, our side may be able to take over drone control too. If our operator finds any anomalies or threats, they’ll tell you. It’ll be much better than having the drones simply follow you while you keep checking the controller screen yourself. Like this. Current drone control status?”
—Drone control recovered. Wireless signal dropout zone begins 2.3 kilometers along the direction of travel. In thirty minutes, I will hand over control.
“Oooh!?”
The sergeant’s eyes went wide.
Seeing him unable to hide his amazement like a primitive man who had just discovered how to make fire, Junho felt strangely proud and continued speaking.
“Whenever you launch a drone after reaching Yeongho-ri, the operator you just heard will assist you. Zombies, people, animals—they’ll detect all of them and warn you, so it’s convenient. Akina. Situation here?”
—Centered on follow target. No threats within a three-hundred-meter radius. No anomalies within five hundred meters ahead on the route.
“How is it? Good, right?”
“Yes, yes! It’s amazing. But, um... who is the person speaking right now? Is she Japanese, by any chance?”
“No, she isn’t. She’s just one of our people. Why?”
At Junho’s question, the sergeant looked a little embarrassed as he said,
“It’s just that her voice is exactly my type. Oh, sorry. What am I even saying... Anyway, thank you very much.”
“...Right.”
Thinking that, for the sake of this innocent soldier, he should never tell him it was an AI voice, Junho nodded.
In any case, Junho and the dispatched troops parted ways midway, and about an hour later, the group was able to pass through Moku-ri and enter the mountain road toward Gahyeon-ri.
***
The mountain road from Moku-ri to Gahyeon-ri, the same road the Daeseong syndicate gangsters from Cheongsan Building in Moku-ri had used in the past, was quiet and secluded.
It was maintained so well that it was no different from a hiking trail or walking path from peaceful times. That was thanks to the work of the Gahyeon-ri survivors.
“...So, you’re saying that after that, Mr. Junho didn’t really intervene, and the residents there managed it on their own?”
“That’s right. Including the former village head, three people are leading the Gahyeon-ri survivors. Their synergy is good. In particular, there’s a man named Song Gijun, who used to lead the apartment survivors. He’s capable.”
Even now, Junho thought it had been an excellent decision to leave Hanchang Development alone for several months in order to find Song Gijun.
If former village head Kim Seokhwan had been the only one there, the relationship with the survivors from the two apartment complexes—who made up nearly a third of Gahyeon-ri’s survivors—would have been quite exhausting.
But Song Gijun had fulfilled the role of lubricant or bridge between people by more than one hundred percent, and now the Gahyeon-ri survivors were getting along reasonably well, without too much distinction between upper village, middle village, and lower village.
“That’s impressive. At our resort, people fight and argue every other day. The boss is going to lose all his hair.”
“My deepest condolences to Brother Baekho’s hair, but honestly, I think Kangho Resort can’t really help it.”
“Why not?”
“The survivors there are tourists who gathered from all over. That makes it hard to create a center of gravity. In contrast, the people here lived in this neighborhood for at least several years. Things are a little awkward between the apartment side and the original residents, but they’re still people from the same neighborhood.”
“Ah....”
“That’s why I respect Brother Baekho even more for accomplishing as much as he has. If it were me, I would’ve beaten down a few dozen people first and started from there.”
“Same here. Looking at that, I really don’t think I’m suited to leading a large group like that after all. If the boss hadn’t been there and it had only been me and Manager Park, something truly terrible would have happened.”
At Yoon Seolhee’s bitter smile, Junho shook his head and said,
“But Brother Baekho can’t fight like you, manager. Taking a single rifle into the mountains and fighting dozens of people—right now, in this world, that’s the most necessary and important ability. That’s why I’m bringing you and your staff to my shelter.”
“...Thank you.”
That was when it happened.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Along with the familiar beeping sound, Yoon Youngsu’s voice came through Junho’s headset.
—Boss! Emergency! Emergency!
“What happened?”
At Junho’s voice, which turned sharp in an instant, Yoon Seolhee looked at him in surprise.
—The people who used to live in Edutown started a riot! About twenty of them are armed and causing a huge mess right now!
“Response?”
—Uncle Song Gijun is taking a search team over there. Should we fire the turrets? What do we do?
PTZ cameras and air-rifle turrets had been installed on the rooftops of each Edutown apartment building precisely for moments like this.
The turrets could intercept external looters, but if someone caused trouble internally, they allowed immediate response without having to send people in.
“For now, just a few... No. Fire a few warning shots and keep the turrets on standby. Tell Mr. Song Gijun not to enter either.”
—Huh? Why?
“I’ll handle it. And those people are all near the entrance right now, aren’t they?”
—Yep. They’re really fired up.
“Got it. I’ll be there in under ten minutes. We’ll talk again then.”
—Roger!
After ending communication with Yoon Youngsu, Junho turned his gaze to Yoon Seolhee, who was now looking at him with a settled expression.
“Did something happen?”
“Yes. Apparently, some of the apartment residents I mentioned earlier have started a riot. They’re probably the families or acquaintances of the people who died the last time we fought.”
No matter how true it was that Edutown had attacked first, a lot of people had died.
And those people had family and friends too. The people left behind needed “someone to blame.”
On top of that, the Edutown survivors were treated clearly worse than the other Gahyeon-ri residents, and given the crimes they had committed, that was only natural.
But with their family members dead, and with their own status having fallen to the very bottom after they had once prided themselves on living in one of the wealthiest parts of Gahyeon-ri alongside the detached-house village, it seemed some of them could no longer endure it.
“Foolish people.”
“Yes, foolish. They’re idiots who have no idea what it means to live in Gahyeon-ri.”
Bastards who did not know the outside was hell.
Idiots who could not even imagine what it meant to live under protection from looters who could kill, steal, and trample them at any moment.
Foolish bastards who would have received the same treatment as everyone else if they had only held out until spring, yet failed to endure those few months.
Worse, ungrateful bastards who still had not repented for their crimes.
For that reason, the decision Junho would make was simple.
“It’s a little earlier than planned, but could you show me what you can do?”
“Of course. Leave it to me.”
The light in Yoon Seolhee’s eyes turned cold as she pulled down her ballistic goggles.
At Kangho Resort, every time something similar had happened, she had endured and endured because of Kang Baekho’s orders.
But the line this new employer had drawn inside his territory was clearly different from Kang Baekho’s.
And for some reason, Yoon Seolhee found this side more to her liking.
