“I moved as carefully as I could, so how did they find out?”
No sooner had they entered the shelter than an emergency meeting was called, and as soon as the news about the Bucheon Brothers Clan was brought up, Jeonghu spoke up, looking quite serious.
Just as Yohan was about to sink into thought at those words, Seoyoung spoke first.
“Maybe… it was because of Juhui unni?”
At that moment, everyone’s gaze turned to Juhui.
Juhui, not understanding what was going on, looked flustered at the suggestion that it was because of her, and Seoyoung quickly opened her mouth again.
“Ah, it’s not your fault, unni. Honestly, it’s our mistake. We thought they were just a gangster group and took them too lightly, so we included you in the operation. That was our mistake.”
“What do you mean?”
“Juhui unni started fighting with the Bucheon Brothers Clan from Bucheon Station all the way to this neighborhood, right? And the last place you disappeared and then reappeared was also here…”
“That could be it.”
As Jeonghu chimed in, Yohan added,
“Besides, those guys chased us relentlessly. Wasn’t the last place we shook them off around South Songnae Station? They must be thinking about that and are now combing this area. Plus, there could be people who saw us, so their search net is probably closing in on us.”
“Hul… then it’s only a matter of time before we’re found?”
“That’s right…”
At Yohan’s words, everyone’s expressions grew heavy.
Seeing this, Yohan also wore a grim face as he habitually took out a cigarette from his pocket and bit down on it, but couldn’t bring himself to light it. Instead, he chewed on the filter and finally spoke.
“Still, the good thing is that we’ve obtained some intel.”
“Yeah. How many do you think are moving?”
“I don’t know either. But if they’re sweeping through Songnae and Jungdong, there must be quite a few of them out there, right?”
“We’ll have to scout this afternoon to know for sure.”
At Seoyoung’s words, Yohan nodded.
“Right. For now, everyone stay in the shelter. I’ll go out and take a look this afternoon and come back.”
“Are you going alone again, Dad?”
“It’s not like I’m scouting in a car. Is there anyone besides me who can run fast on foot?”
No one could say anything to that.
They all knew he had the ability to run fast.
Just as they were preparing to wait for the afternoon, Yohan suddenly paused and spoke.
“No… Instead of just sitting here in the shelter, you all—including you, Juhui—have something to do.”
“What is it?”
At Juhui’s question, Yohan pointed out the window.
All they could see was the small mountain behind the neighborhood.
“We’ll decide after the patrol, but we might have to abandon the shelter and escape. From the times I’ve trained up in the mountains, I’ve noticed there’s hardly anyone up there.”
“You mean…?”
“It’d be good to make a backup shelter—no, a hideout—in the mountains.”
Yohan thought that even though there were countless possibilities if the Bucheon Brothers Clan found the shelter, it wouldn’t hurt to have a hideout ready.
“We’ll whip one up quickly for now, but we might end up using it long term. So we need to set the location and the framework properly.”
“Ah… I’m the only one who’s going to suffer.”
Junga flopped down on the spot and groaned.
“Why? Isn’t your ability super useful? If you think about it, it’s the most practical. You can just build a house in a day.”
“Still! I want to fight too!”
“You can’t fight unless the defenses are solid. Let’s take this chance to build a proper fortress in the mountain. If you do, I’ll name it Jungeosan Fortress.”
As Jeonghu cheerfully suggested this, everyone looked at him with exasperation, except for Junga, who clapped her hands in delight, eyes sparkling.
“That’s not bad! Jungeosan Fortress? Oh… it sounds legit. Like something you’d see in a history book!”
“Kuh… Our Yoon family will finally have a hero in the history books. Jungeosan Fortress, kuh…”
“Enough with the theatrics. Quiet down. Since we’ve brought it up, let’s all head up and get ready.”
“Dad, are you coming too?”
“I’ll set the location. I’ve already picked out a spot.”
With that, Yohan entrusted Sejeong, Soyul, Janggooni, and Meonggooni to Seoyoung, then took the rest of the family up the mountain to pick a spot.
After climbing for a while and taking a side path, they arrived at a spring.
It had become almost forgotten due to E. coli contamination, and with so many parks popping up in every neighborhood, even the elderly no longer visited.
But in the mountain, it was a rare, well-leveled clearing.
After roughly marking out where the fortress walls would go, it was already close to 2 o’clock.
“It’s already this late. I’ll go out on patrol now.”
“Alright. By the way, there aren’t any monsters here?”
“Strangely, there aren’t any monsters in the mountain. Still, you never know—some crazy strong ones might show up like before… Be careful!”
“Yep!”
Though he was uneasy seeing his son salute playfully, Yohan knew he could be reliable when it mattered, so he quickly headed down the mountain.
Moving cautiously along the route where he’d spotted the gangsters at dawn, Yohan soon spotted a group of three gangsters moving together like a unit.
Watching them closely, he saw walkie-talkies in their hands.
‘Walkie-talkies…
That meant they could radio in as soon as they spotted an enemy, but it also meant there were allies nearby who could be called for backup.
Without hesitating, Yohan leapt over a building and made his way toward the main road.
Even on the usually deserted main road, three cars were moving busily.
Turning his gaze, he saw ten gangsters attacking an Orc Army.
They seemed quite capable, completely overwhelming the heavily armed Orc Army.
“Hmm…”
Letting out a low hum, Yohan moved on, checking several locations before finally heading for South Songnae Station.
Once rebuilt, South Songnae Station had looked so impressive it could have passed for an airport, but now one side was burned and horribly scarred.
Unlike before, there were intact cars parked there, and gangsters loitered nearby.
Yohan’s expression grew strange.
“Nam Taegu…”
There stood Nam Taegu, the boss of the Bucheon Brothers Clan.
Seeing him urging his men on with a stiff face, Yohan quickly slipped away and headed for the shelter.
“Dad!”
Sejeong, who had been playing with Janggooni and Meonggooni, ran over as soon as she saw Yohan.
“Hey, Sejeong. Nothing happened, right?”
More than asking if she’d eaten, this had become their standard greeting, and Sejeong nodded vigorously.
Beside her, Soyul’s eyes sparkled brightly.
Finding her cute, Yohan patted her head and asked,
“Soyul, were you okay too?”
“Yes, uncle!”
“Good, good. Where is everyone else?”
“They’re still up in the mountain and haven’t come back yet!”
“Hmm…”
Yohan glanced toward the mountain and turned on his walkie-talkie.
With a burst of static, he managed to contact the others and had them come down, then called another meeting.
“Just the people I saw alone must have been fifty—no, maybe sixty.”
“That’s a serious number.”
“No, it’s a good thing.”
Having sorted out his thoughts on the way back, Yohan spoke brightly, drawing everyone’s eyes.
“It means we can loot empty houses.”
“But aren’t half of them still at Bucheon Station? Maybe even more… unless…”
“Nam Taegu is here.”
“Ah…”
While everyone reacted, Yohan banged the table loudly.
“This is a great chance to loot Bucheon. With Nam Taegu gone, Bucheon Station is basically an empty house.”
With that, Yohan looked at Junga.
“Junga and Juhui, you two take the kids and Janggooni and Meonggooni to the hideout. Junga, keep reinforcing the walls.”
“Okay!”
This time he turned to Juhui.
“After you transform for five minutes, how long until you can use your ability again?”
“Uh… at least five hours.”
“So five minutes of use, and a five-hour cooldown… Unless it’s really dangerous, keep your transformation hidden as a trump card. Take whatever rare weapons you can use right now.”
“Okay, I will.”
Seeing Juhui nod firmly, Yohan turned to Jeonghu and Seoyoung.
“Jeonghu and Seoyoung, you two come with me to Bucheon Station.”
No sooner had Yohan finished speaking than Jeonghu and Seoyoung sprang into action.
Jeonghu came out wearing the Demon King’s Chainmail of Annihilation, the Black Dragon Talisman, and carrying a gun. Seoyoung also came out with her Amplification Staff and a rare leather Chest Armor with decent defense.
Meanwhile, Yohan packed some instant food for Junga and Juhui and sent them on their way.
“Alright, let’s go.”
As soon as everything was ready, Jeonghu looked at his father in confusion and asked,
“Dad, aren’t we going by car?”
“Wouldn’t they instantly recognize our car and catch us? Unless we pick up a random one on the way.”
“Ah…”
“He’s my brother, but seriously, does he ever think things through?”
While Seoyoung grumbled, Jeonghu huffed, and Yohan strode confidently out.
To avoid detection, they bypassed the alleys, crossed fields, and weaved through rows of multi-family homes as they made their way to Bucheon.
It might seem strange to find Bucheon through such narrow paths, but having lived there for so long, Yohan could navigate the area with ease.
From the shelter where Yohan’s family stayed to the plaza in front of Bucheon South Station, it would have taken less than 10 minutes by car.
But on foot, cutting through deserted, building-filled areas, it took close to an hour.
With no cars to hitch a ride on, they walked for about 50 minutes before finally spotting Bucheon Station across the street.
Jeonghu, eyes half-closed, stared at the fortress they had built and spoke.
“There seemed to be a lot of people at South Station last time… but now there are only two?”
Looking at Yohan, who was carefully observing with heightened senses, Jeonghu asked,
“What should we do, Dad?”
At Jeonghu’s question, Yohan looked at Seoyoung and said,
“Seoyoung, as soon as we move to that building next door, hit them with a fire attack.”
“Fire? Isn’t that a bit too obvious?”
“If we hit them that hard, the Bucheon Brothers Clan will have to come out. They wouldn’t just stand by and watch someone burn their fortress down, would they?”
“That’s true. Just counting how many come out will give us a rough estimate.”
The three of them quietly entered a building across from the South Station plaza.
It was a bit of a distance, but from the top floor, they could see Bucheon Station clearly. Seoyoung took out her Amplification Staff.
Whoosh!
As soon as the crystal orb glowed red, she swung her staff, sending three large Fireballs in a row toward the fortress walls blocking Bucheon Station.
Bang! Bang! KWAANG!
With a series of huge explosions, the fortress walls blew apart.