“Sorry...!”
Because of my persuasion.
In the end, Yunseong made up his mind, turned around, and ran toward the group members.
Watching his back, I thought to myself.
‘...Sorry? He’s got a pretty serious misunderstanding here.’
Retreat quickly.
I’ll take responsibility here.
Yeah, I said things like that.
And Yunseong took those words—
—Leave this to me, and the rest of you live...!
—as what I meant.
You know.
Like sacrificing yourself to protect others.
That kind of vibe.
The problem was...
‘Like hell I’d do that.’
I—
had absolutely zero intention of doing something like that.
‘What the hell do these people have to do with me?’
If it were the Northern Branch people I’d gotten at least somewhat close to, maybe.
But aside from Howard, I’d barely even exchanged words with the Central Branch folks.
And on top of that, I’d already warned them everything was about to go sideways.
They just didn’t listen, and this happened.
‘I’m already pissed off. Why would I sacrifice myself to help people I don’t even like?’
Yeah.
The reason I told them to retreat
wasn’t for their sake.
“Alright, I cleared out the ones who’d get in the way...”
It was more like—
“Let’s get to it.”
For the fight coming up,
those people were nothing but obstacles.
So I shoved them out of the way beforehand.
—Krrrrk...
—GOOOOOOOO...
Four gigantic beasts with pure white fur, blasting out a ridiculous pressure.
Maybe it was the effect of [Berserk],
but their bloodshot eyes were overflowing with raw, murderous madness,
and the red mana rippling around their bodies was so thick and dense you could see it even without using the [Combat Power Gauge].
“Master’s master...?”
“I told you last time, but our top priority is your safety!”
After the people disappeared,
the two elite vampires stepped out of my shadow, looking flustered.
“You should run away here!!”
“Should I?”
Well.
One of them might’ve been doable.
But there were four monsters giving off that kind of pressure.
Even if the two elite vampires fought alongside me,
normally this would’ve been a pretty brutal matchup...
No, nine times out of ten, enemies we wouldn’t beat.
But.
“Isn’t that something you only know after you fight?”
Even so,
I didn’t feel like running.
“...No way, Nayeon!”
“Yeah, oppa...! We’ll knock out Master’s master and run...!”
The moment I showed any sign of fighting,
they panicked and shifted into a stance to attack me for my “safety.”
Thunk!
“Cut that shit out, you idiots.”
“Eek.”
I bonked each of them on the head and spoke.
Sure.
Even at a glance, they looked strong.
And especially that [Berserk] Skill—
its effect looked insane.
But.
“I wanted to avoid engaging, but thinking about it, this worked out better, right?”
I walked toward them,
slipping my hand into my coat.
“I’ve got some things I’ve been wanting to test.”
As I took another step closer,
—KWAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
—GUOOOOOOOOO!!!
The four monsters charged me, roaring so hard they shoved the blizzard back.
And I—
pulled out what I’d been carrying.
[Flame-Resistant Kitchen Knife]
[A masterpiece created through the cooperation of many Intermediate Blacksmiths and Intermediate Combat Engineers!]
[Its form will never collapse, no matter how intense the heat.]
[When equipped, the user gains ‘Trait - Lower Elemental Resistance.’]
The first thing I drew was a long dagger that reminded me of some old lone-wolf blade style.
Seriously, Master Park’s work was something else.
—Slice!
‘Yeah... this is it.’
After being stuck using nothing but a [Shop-bought Dagger], my chest felt like it finally cracked open.
Just holding a proper weapon
made it feel like my combat power had doubled from before.
Of course.
This alone wasn’t enough to kill them.
[Legion-Made Custom Special-Purpose Ammunition]
[Legion-Made Custom Special-Purpose Handgun]
I pulled a handgun from inside my coat,
aimed it at the monsters whipped into a frenzy by [Berserk],
and—
BANG.
That was enough.
[You have obtained experience.]
“M-Master’s master?”
“What even is that...?!”
Those four powerful monsters, once the gunshot rang out,
couldn’t even last ten minutes before turning into my experience.
****
‘Hmm. These corpses are pretty usable.’
After ending the fight,
I stowed the monsters’ bodies into my shadow and headed straight for the Southern Branch.
“Sniff sniff... the place with the most human blood smell...!”
Unlike me, still human,
these monsters living on blood had a different class of nose.
With the vampires guiding me,
I moved toward the nearest place with the most humans gathered.
When I was traveling with others, I had to stick to safe routes.
But once I split off from them,
I could carve through anything that jumped me and take the most direct line.
So I reached the Southern Branch way earlier than scheduled.
“Borrow troops to rescue someone who’s already here....”
“......”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
And that
is how we ended up in this situation.
****
“Well... like Youngjun said, they got attacked, so maybe they’re panicking out of their minds.”
“Huh? Uh...? Y-yeah....”
“You still look exhausted. Go to your quarters and get some rest. The people outside will guide you.”
The Central Branch people—
especially Yunseong and Howard—arrived at the Southern Branch and immediately went to the leaders to ask for troops to rescue me.
But the second that turned out to be unnecessary,
they walked into their lodging with blank faces.
“Then...”
And after sending them out,
Jo Beomseok looked at me and said,
“Let’s continue what we were saying.”
“Yes. Let’s.”
Right after I got to the Southern Branch,
I’d gone straight to Jo Beomseok and asked to talk alone.
We hadn’t even gotten into the main point before those Central Branch people barged in and cut us off.
Now we could finally talk properly.
But.
“Before that...”
Before the real conversation started,
I looked at the two men behind Jo Beomseok and asked,
“Is it fine for those people to stay?”
“Hmm. They’re the ones sharing leadership of the Southern Branch with me. People I trust.”
“People you trust... I get they’re in your group, but...”
Unlike Jo Beomseok, who was sitting comfortably,
two men stood behind him with their hands clasped behind their backs,
posture rigid as a board.
They weren’t wearing uniforms,
so instead of soldiers,
they felt like—
rebels, or elite militia from a civilian security force.
[Jo Jun]
[Intermediate Strategist Lv. 26]
[Kim Jinkyung]
[Intermediate Poison Master Lv. 26]
Jo Beomseok seated in front.
Two leaders standing behind him.
Just from the arrangement, I could guess the hierarchy.
Even so, I had to say what I had to say.
“Aren’t you trusting way too easily?”
“Hmm.”
There’s a traitor inside ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) the Association.
The one who told me that
was the old man right in front of me, Jo Beomseok.
The suspects were people who knew each group’s routes.
Meaning leaders or high-level officers.
These two leaders fit that condition,
yet he was excluding them.
Was it just because they were in his group?
I asked because that bothered me.
But Jo Beomseok shook his head.
“We verified them thoroughly.”
“You didn’t just... take their word for it, right?”
“Of course not. Surviving in this world hasn’t been easy for us either. We’ve picked up our own know-how along the way. I can’t tell you what that know-how is, but...”
At that,
I slid my gaze to the two of them.
And I noticed something.
‘Both of them look a bit pale.’
They were standing rigid with military discipline,
but if you looked closely, their complexions were deathly pale,
with cold sweat beading on their faces.
“...We checked them by a much more reliable method than you’re imagining. You don’t need to worry.”
“......”
I didn’t know what kind of “verification” they’d done before I got here,
but if he was saying it that firmly, it was probably safe to accept.
“Still, introductions are in order. Like I said, they represent the Southern Branch with me. Their names are Jo Jun and Kim Jinkyung.”
Only then did they release their hands and extend them toward me.
“I’m Kim Jinkyung.”
“I’m Jo Jun.”
“...Ah, yeah.”
I took their greetings awkwardly.
Kim Jinkyung didn’t react much.
But Jo Jun was different.
“I’ve already heard about you.”
“Heard what?”
“That you saved my grandfather’s life...”
“...?”
Grandfather?
What was that supposed to mean—
“Captain Jo Jun is my grandson.”
“...Ah!”
Only then did it click
that they shared the same family name.
[Jo Beomseok]
[Intermediate Commander]
[Jo Jun]
[Intermediate Strategist]
“Haha... Compared to General Jo, I’m still lacking.”
“Hmph. Yeah, like he said, he’s got plenty of lacking compared to you... but he’s not useless. He’s sharing the leadership seat here.”
The reason I hadn’t caught it earlier
was that Jo Beomseok’s attitude toward his grandson didn’t feel like a grandfather at all.
It was more like—
a strict general dealing with his officer.
‘Guess that’s the soldier in him. Even to his grandson, he’s hard as nails.’
By the way—
“Captain... your grandson is a soldier too?”
“Don’t misunderstand. Our family isn’t a military family, and we didn’t force him into it. He enlisted because he wanted to.”
“Haha... I’m Captain Jo Jun. You can call me Captain Jo.”
Captain Jo Jun.
Captain Jo...
‘...Makes me think of a certain lieutenant I know.’
If we’re talking first impressions, that lieutenant looks way more impressive.
But that’s because he’s all show, no substance.
“It’s ‘captain,’ sure, but before the world went to hell, he’d never seen real combat even once.”
“Haha...”
“Still, his officer evaluations weren’t bad. Unlike me, he went through the proper elite track, and he happened to get good reviews...”
Despite Jo Beomseok’s harsh judging,
this young officer in front of me—
how to put it—
looked like a textbook elite officer,
carrying the vibe of a capable young soldier.
“In a peaceful world, he might’ve climbed to a decent position. But now he’s got a lot to fix.”
“From what I see, he seems fine.”
“He might look fine on the outside, but his personality’s too soft to survive in this world. Not fit for a soldier... I thought it didn’t matter since the army got wiped out.”
Jo Beomseok, still evaluating his grandson,
suddenly hardened his eyes.
“But now we know there are military units left in Gangwon, so that changes everything!”
“......”
“We’ll survive no matter what, and hold out until that Wall disappears. Then we can join that army... and Captain Jo will have to prove himself there!”
Passion flared in his gaze.
“If he’s my grandson, he can’t just follow behind me—he has to surpass me. After we join that Legion... not some fake general, but a real one. He has to rise that high.”
Fake general, real general.
Was that even a thing?
But I could see why he was so strict with his grandson.
‘He’s got huge expectations. That’s all.’
He wanted his grandson
to reach higher than he ever did.
“Whew. With how lacking he is now, it’s impossible.”
“Haha... I’ll work harder, General.”
“Yeah, yeah. Always just talk.”
After rambling in excitement for a while,
Jo Beomseok calmed down.
“Alright... if we’re going to survive and join that Legion...”
His voice settled into a steady tone.
“We should get to the main point.”
“Yes. I was wondering when we would.”
The main point was simple.
What he’d told me back at the Central Branch.
“Like I said, we finished verifying the Southern Branch. Not just these two. At least among the people who should know each group’s routes, there weren’t any traitors.”
About the traitor inside the Association.
Jo Beomseok leaned deep into his chair,
and spoke in a heavier voice.
“If there’s no traitor in the Southern Branch, then where is one? The three of us kept thinking about that.”
“The first ones we suspected were the Eastern Branch.”
Kim Jinkyung spoke from her rigid stance.
“I heard that Kim Jongdu, the [Architect], strongly opposed investigating the source of the cold.”
Maybe they thought
he was in league with the monsters,
and that’s why he tried to block the investigation.
But.
“That suspicion got dismissed quickly.”
“The Eastern Branch people have contributed to human survival more than even the Chair. That [Architect]... Kim Jongdu is prickly, sure, but without him, humanity in Gyeonggi would’ve collapsed long ago.”
We’d argued, yeah.
But the thing that shocked me the most after I entered Gyeonggi
was the Wall he built.
Without those Walls, humanity in this environment would’ve been swept away already.
If there were a traitor in the Eastern Branch, they wouldn’t be working that hard to keep humans alive.
“Next, we suspected the Northern Branch.”
Jo Jun spoke next.
“But that got dismissed too. If there’s a traitor, they’d have to be working with whatever’s lurking in the source of the cold. But that’s at the far southern end, and the Northern Branch is the farthest from it. It’d be hard for a traitor to even make contact with the monsters...”
“And considering their personalities, we figured the odds of a traitor there were low to begin with.”
They didn’t know this part,
but the Northern Branch also had Han Iseo.
‘A shaman...’
She could read truth.
No one was hiding as a traitor under her eyes.
So in the end,
what was left was...
“Only the Central Branch.”
“Up until just now, we were sure the traitor was there. But...”
All three leaders’ eyes went to the meeting room door.
The door Yunseong and Howard had just come through.
“The way they demanded troops to rescue you... it was too natural to call it a lie.”
“Honestly, I was confused. I was sure Yunseong was the traitor.”
Well.
If you think through Yunseong’s position, it’s absolutely suspicious.
But after seeing his reaction earlier,
Jo Beomseok’s thoughts seemed to shift.
He looked like he’d lost himself.
“And seeing that attitude made me think...”
“Yes?”
“Maybe...”
Then he let out a sigh, looking apologetic.
“Maybe there isn’t a traitor at all.”
“......”
“Maybe those monsters waiting like they knew our route... were just there by coincidence. Maybe I’m the one imagining a traitor...”
After saying that,
Jo Beomseok exhaled hard and looked sorry.
“I owe you an apology.”
“An apology?”
“If it turns out I was just mistaken, then I might’ve made you suspect people for nothing...”
“Sorry, but...”
He was talking about a world where there might not even be a traitor.
After we’d been hit by an ambush that could only happen if there was one.
How could he even think that?
I stared at him and said,
“What kind of bullshit is that?”
“...What?”
“There is a traitor.”
“...What are you talking about!”
“And I already know who it is.”
That was—
way too stupid to be a real conclusion.
