There was such a thing as momentum in a fight.
There was a reason people said, “First hit wins.”
Momentum mattered in a fight.
If one looked through historical records, there were often stories of a small force defeating a larger one.
In Junho’s opinion, nine times out of ten, it was because they had seized the opening momentum, then carried it through well afterward.
That was true even in large-scale battles where armies of thousands or tens of thousands collided, so it went without saying for short engagements between small numbers.
When there were many people, there might still be a chance to counterattack in the middle of battle. But when the head count was small, once you were pushed back, it was over.
And that was even more true for people who were not normally used to fighting, especially people who had never experienced a terrifying bloodbath where someone could truly die.
And right now, that was being proven.
***
Starting with the first man whose skull Kim Jimin had cracked with his collapsible baton, only six more had gone down.
By contrast, there were still well over thirty people standing with both feet on the ground.
But among those lying on the ground, either motionless enough that no one could tell whether they were dead or alive, or writhing like insects, not one had managed to strike the three, let alone brush their collars.
So the rioters had no choice but to stop their spirited charge.
“Uhhh....”
Their momentum snapped all at once, and each of them began backing away hesitantly, faces as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over their heads.
Because the three people walking toward them had their helmets pulled low and their faces hidden behind goggles and masks, making their expressions impossible to see, they were even more frightening.
“B-bows! What are the people with the bows doing?”
Someone looked for the men armed with crossbows.
“Huh?”
But the two men holding crossbows already had bullets lodged in their stomach and shoulder, and were only letting out groans of pain.
“Fuuuck! Let’s rush them all at once! Surround them and attack together!”
At someone’s shout, the people who had been retreating began glancing at one another.
“Yongseon’s dad, what are you doing!? D-do something.”
“F-fuck. What’s your son doing, lady? Why are you bitching at me?”
“The person who brought it up should step up.”
“No, I mean all of us together....”
“They’re c-coming...!”
But no one, not even the person who had incited them, moved first.
Of course they did not.
Without a single exception, until this very moment, none of them had ever personally stepped forward and fought, whether against zombies or humans.
They had survived by putting forward someone in their family, making that person loot and murder for them, then living off the results.
“Parasites....”
Junho, who had climbed down the retaining wall last and was watching the situation, let out a single word full of contempt that defined them.
The residents of this apartment complex who had attacked The First Apartments and then died to the search-and-execute team and the zombies had at least been brave.
In another region, they might have been very standard, very normal apocalypse survivors.
Hurting others and taking what they had was the default in the apocalypse.
Their only mistake and misfortune was that they had done it in Gahyeon-ri, which one regressor had marked as his territory.
But those people had no courage, no initiative, nothing.
They were nothing but cowards and parasites.
And despite that, they could not even tolerate the smallest loss, and had crossed the “line.”
On top of that, these stupid insect-like humans had overlooked one more thing—the most important fact of all.
“I said let’s all attack together!”
“Let’s just surrender instead. I-if we stop here, maybe they’ll let us off—eek!?”
“Fuck!?”
“Aaaah!”
When Yoon Seolhee, Kim Jimin, and Kim Jaemun suddenly charged at them, the people panicked.
Whish! Thwack! Crack!
The collapsible batons danced without hesitation, and each time, someone’s head was split open or a bone broke, sending them rolling across the ground.
“Aaagh! Agh!”
“Kuhuk!”
The three showed no mercy. There was no distinction between men and women.
Those who were not holding weapons merely had their arms and legs struck, but anyone holding any kind of weapon had their skull cracked without exception.
“Kuhh... ugh....”
“A-ah, ahh... p-please spare me.”
And so the rioters of Riverview Apartments personally confirmed with their own bodies that if they crossed the line first, others could cross the line at any time too.
***
With five dead, including the ringleader, and more than twenty heavily or lightly injured, the riot at Riverview Apartments came to an end.
Song Gijun, who arrived at Riverview Apartments a little late with the search-and-execute team, was stunned speechless by the horrific scene.
But after confirming that the people who had started the riot had harmed others who tried to stop them, and that three of the five dead had even been killed by the ringleader group, he had no choice but to abandon even the slightest trace of sympathy for those who had started and joined the riot.
“What are you going to do?”
“As I said before, °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° the people in charge here are you and the village head, Mr. Song. The aftermath isn’t my problem. It’s something you all have to handle yourselves.”
“...Understood.”
After ordering the dead and wounded to be moved, Song Gijun had all the captured rioters gathered, along with the other residents who had not participated in the riot.
“We should go.”
“Huh? You aren’t going to check how they handle it?”
At Gu Jeongmok’s question—he had killed the ringleader with the air rifle—Junho shook his head.
“Whether I check or not, nothing changes. It’s right for the people here to finish things here. And if he’s the man I know....”
Junho glanced at Song Gijun, whose body had grown sturdier than when they had first met, but whose face had become even sharper, and continued.
“He’ll tie this up cleanly so nothing like this ever happens again.”
Judging by Song Gijun’s nature and ability, which Junho had seen before the regression and then confirmed again over the last half year, he certainly would.
Just from that cold, glittering look in his eyes, Junho could tell how furious Song Gijun was right now.
Most of all, if the years before the regression were added in, Junho’s actual age was now in his mid-thirties, so he had developed something like seniority.
And Yoon Seolhee, who had spent quite a long time with Kang Baekho, a company owner, seemed to understand the thought that came from Junho’s accumulated experience.
“Assistant Manager Gu. You don’t like it when your manager interferes with every single part of your work either, do you?”
“Uh... no, it doesn’t feel great.”
When Gu Jeongmok shrugged, Yoon Seolhee wiped the blood from her collapsible baton and continued.
“Now imagine your manager or department head butting into your work and giving you advice on every little thing in front of other subordinates or partner-company people. How would everyone else see you, Assistant Manager Gu?”
“...Ah.”
Gu Jeongmok finally realized something.
Kim Jaemun and Kim Jimin also belatedly noticed Junho’s intention and nodded.
“Mr. Lee Junho was preserving that man’s authority and face just now. Besides, what we did today was originally something those people should have handled themselves. At times like this, it’s right to quietly step out at the right moment. That way, when we see them later, neither side has any reason to feel awkward.”
“Whew... I guess I still have a long way to go.”
As Gu Jeongmok scratched his head, Junho spoke up.
“No. You did very well today. By the way, Assistant Manager Gu. Are you all right?”
“Huh? Ah... that. I’m fine. I’ve already experienced it.”
Since Gu Jeongmok had killed a living person with a gun, Junho had been a little worried about him.
“What can we do in a world like this? Besides, that bastard I shot killed two people who were trying to stop him, right? If we’d left him alone, he would’ve killed more people later. I’m fine.”
Gu Jeongmok’s expression was bitter, but he did not seem to have PTSD, and Junho felt somewhat relieved.
Kim Jaemun and Kim Jimin also looked a little stiff and tired from combat fatigue, but they still did not seem excited or euphoric.
Junho once again felt grateful to Yoon Seolhee and Park Cheolwoo for selecting people who were strong not only physically, but mentally as well. They felt dependable.
“All right, we’re really almost there now, so let’s hurry. We’ll arrive before sunset and all have dinner together while introducing ourselves.”
And with the new members, he headed home.
To their shelter.
***
“This is really... incredible.”
“This is insane. Seriously.”
“Wow... does this even make sense? A few billion won wouldn’t come close, would it?”
“Not even close.”
From the moment Yoon Seolhee and the three men Yoon Youngsu had named the “KJM Brothers” saw the shelter entrance at the foot of the mountain, their admiration had not stopped.
It was already surprising that an old iron gate no one would even think of wanting to enter opened automatically.
But the CCTV cameras, which they had not even known existed until Junho told them, had no blind spots.
And just like everyone else, when they saw the container doors that opened and closed automatically and the container residential area built inside, their eyes widened.
“First, unpack your things here. You’ll stay here for about two weeks to adapt.”
“Huh? You mean this isn’t the shelter?”
“No. It isn’t. This is temporary housing. Well, other people will probably move in and live here soon, but for now, our shelter family doesn’t live here.”
“Whoa....”
Junho turned his eyes away from the KJM Brothers and spoke to the Blossom members, who looked extremely nervous despite their surprise.
“For now, you’ll be two to a room, but if you want, the four of you can stay together. However, it’s studio-style, so if four of you stay together, it’ll be very uncomfortable.”
“Um... boss, could we maybe just sleep two to a room?”
“That’s up to you.”
“Ah! Thank you so much!”
Cherry Ahn Yujeong’s face immediately brightened, and she rushed toward the container homes with the other members.
Thanks to six container homes finding owners, even if only for a short while, the residential area filled with life.
Then the automatic container door on the opposite side from where the group had entered opened.
“Mr. Junhooooo...!”
Woof! Woof woof!
Choi Jiwoo, Kim Junseo, and the two dogs raced toward Junho like arrows.
“You little brats are going to get hurt. Don’t run.”
Without realizing it, Junho smiled.
It finally felt real.
He had come home.
***
Choi Jiwoo clung to his thigh and chattered nonstop, asking if he had missed her, while Kim Junseo gave him a polite bow with both hands folded at his belly and asked if he had returned safely.
After barely peeling off Purdy and Kkamsoonie, who had come charging at him like mad, Junho spoke to Baek Hail, who had come out to greet him.
“I heard from Youngsu on the way that nothing major happened, but was everything really all right?”
At that, Baek Hail’s face twisted hard.
“Good grief, man. You just got back and you’re already talking work? I heard you were fighting those gangster bastards like it was life or death. Are you hurt anywhere?”
Junho felt a little embarrassed under Baek Hail’s tongue-clicking and gave a wry smile.
“No, I’m not. Sorry, boss.”
“What’re you saying? What do you have to be sorry to me for? Anyway, I’m really glad you’re safe. And it wasn’t just me. Everyone else was worried sick about you too, Junho.”
“They were?”
“Of course they were. So when you see them, talk to them properly. We’re all family, aren’t we? And you’re the head of this place.”
“......!”
For a moment, Junho closed his mouth, feeling as if he had been struck in the head.
Family.
That word made something he had forgotten rise inside him.
“...You’re right. We’re all family.”
The only one tied to him by blood was Junhyeok, but the shelter members were indeed “family,” people who might spend their whole lives together, eating at the same table.
And it was only natural for family to worry about one another.
He had simply forgotten that for a moment.
“Of course we are. You little punk. You’re sharp as anything with everything else, but when it comes to this stuff, you’ve got no sense.”
“That’s because you’re here, boss. If I’m the head of the family, then you’re the shelter’s mother, aren’t you?”
Junho smiled and sidled up to Baek Hail, the only person besides his younger brother Junhyeok to whom he could show his sincere feelings.
“Hey, look at you. Don’t smile at me like that. It’s creepy, man.”
Baek Hail, who knew Junho’s heart very well, pretended to be horrified, but soon gave a faint laugh and patted Junho on the shoulder.
In that rough touch, Junho felt an incomparably warm heat.
It was then.
—Um, boss.
“Yeah. What is it?”
Yoon Youngsu spoke in a voice that was a little heavier than usual.
—I’m sorry to tell you this right after you got back, but there’s something you need to check right now.
“Check? What?”
—The government that ran off to Jeju uploaded a video.
“......!”
Apparently, the incompetent bastards who had done nothing but push the country deeper into chaos instead of saving its people were trying to do something again.
