Chapter 28: Kim Taehyun

KWAANG!

The energy of Asura’s Raging Wave collided with Nam Taegu and exploded.

Yohan kept his guard up, his eyes fixed on the thick smoke billowing up with a thunderous roar, as he frantically unleashed the Second Form, Water: Radiant Light Spirit.

“Huff… huff…”

For the first time since he obtained the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, he was out of breath.

“Is he dead?”

Yohan shook his head at his own question.

‘No, not yet.’

If Nam Taegu were dead, he would have heard a notification asking if he wanted to plunder Nam Taegu’s abilities. Since he didn’t hear it, that meant the guy wasn’t dead yet.

Without letting his guard down, Yohan readjusted his grip on the Heavenly Demon Spear and began to stealthily approach the place where Nam Taegu might be lying.

Just as the wind swept away the lingering smoke, the silhouette of Nam Taegu sprawled on the ground came into view.

“Is he unconscious…?”

At first glance, he seemed unable to fight anymore, so Yohan relaxed his stance and let out a sigh as he approached to finish things.

“Ugh…”

At that moment, Nam Taegu weakly raised his hand.

The immense energy he’d shown until now had vanished without a trace, replaced by a pitiful black aura that feebly stretched toward Yohan.

Yohan brushed it aside with a simple flick of his hand and raised the Heavenly Demon Spear high.

“I’ll send you off without pain.”

Crack.

-You have acquired Heavenly Demon Martial Arts (Legendary). Would you like to use it?

And then, with the sound of the notification, Yohan finally allowed himself a sigh of relief.

He had taken down a major enemy.

And he had obtained a legendary-level ability.

Yohan raised his hand and tried out the Heavenly Demon Martial Arts skill.

A crimson energy blazed fiercely from his palm.

“Heavenly Demon Martial Arts, huh…”

It was an ability he’d never heard of before, but perhaps because of the common link to the Heavenly Demon, it felt like it resonated with the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

As proof, the energy that had been black when Nam Taegu used it now glowed red in Yohan’s hands.

-The Game is over.

-We will now announce your results.

-Total kills: 23 Orcs, 1 Orc Captain, 36 humans…

-Congratulations. You are ranked 2nd in the Bucheon area.

-As a special reward, you may choose one high-grade item.

No sooner had he checked the Heavenly Demon Martial Arts and gotten to his feet than the Third Game’s end was announced.

“So it’s over…”

He had finished yet another fight, but Yohan’s expression wasn’t bright.

Aside from the monsters, he had killed a staggering 36 humans.

Not long ago, he’d been nothing more than an ordinary supermarket owner, yet now he’d killed more people than Korea’s infamous serial killers.

Now that the Game was over, a wave of bitterness washed over him.

But strangely, he didn’t feel any fear, trembling, or excitement about the killing.

Come to think of it, it had been that way from the beginning.

‘Why is that?’

He could probably come up with dozens of reasons, but Yohan decided not to dwell on it.

Why?

‘Because I survived, for now.’

And…

“Dad!”

“Daddy!”

‘Because I saved my family.’

Satisfied with that, Yohan let out a small laugh.

He was completely drained.

Perhaps it was because he’d faced such a strong enemy, but half the inner energy in his dantian was gone.

“All right, let’s go home.”

“What about those people?”

“Hm?”

Following Seoyoung’s gaze, he looked back and saw the thugs from Bucheon Station who had witnessed Nam Taegu’s death milling about in confusion.

Their big boss had died, yet they weren’t even thinking about revenge or attacking—they just hovered aimlessly. Yohan shook his head at the sight.

“They never had any loyalty to begin with.”

“Seriously. I always thought gangsters were all about loyalty, but they’ll move for ‘4 dollars’.”

“Forget the ‘4 dollars’ crap, Seoyoung, let’s hit them with a big Fireball and pull out.”

“Yes, Dad.”

No sooner had he spoken than Seoyoung hurled a Fireball, and the terrified thugs scattered in all directions. With that, the Yohan family returned to the shelter.

“Ah… we’re home.”

“Seoyoung, call the people who evacuated via radio. Jeonghu, you’re coming with me.”

“Huh? Where to?”

“Bucheon High School.”

“Why there, all of a sudden…”

Ignoring Jeonghu’s tired grumbling, Yohan dragged him toward Bucheon High School.

“Wow… it’s been a while since I’ve been to Bucheon High.”

“You’ve been here before?”

“Of course. You know Youngjun from Bucheon High, right? He went here. By the way, is Youngjun still alive…?”

“Where is he now?”

“He went to study abroad in the United States. Things can’t be good there, either, right?”

“Well, it’s probably better than here. It’s the world’s most powerful country.”

“True, maybe their army’s already formed a superpower unit or something. Anyway… huh? What’s up with Bucheon High?”

In an instant, Jeonghu’s eyes widened at the sight of Bucheon High School.

Yohan was surprised, too, as he hadn’t realized the school had been turned into a military shelter.

“Wow, look at that—there’s Dazzi, cargo trucks… is that a Hydraulic Crane? And a trailer? They’ve got everything!”

Seeing Jeonghu identify the vehicle types at a glance from across the field, Yohan spoke.

“Does all that time as a military driver pay off? Which ones do you think are worth using?”

“Well, Dazzi or cargo trucks would be good. The ride’s rough, but they’re sturdy—you could ram through most monsters and still move. Huh, is there no one here?”

“Yeah, looks like they abandoned the vehicles and ran because they couldn’t handle the pressure from the Bucheon Brothers Clan.”

“Hmm…”

“Let’s go in and take a look. There might be other useful stuff.”

“Yes, Father.”

The Yohan father and son quickened their pace and entered Bucheon High.

The moment they stepped onto the field, they were greeted by two Dazzi vehicles, one cargo truck, one trailer, and even a Retona.

“Bucheon Brothers Clan must’ve really terrorized them. They even left their vehicles behind.”

“They probably only took what they could use to evacuate people in a hurry. There’s even a container box.”

“Oh? That looks like a living quarters container. Back when I was a private, they were building new barracks, so I lived in one of those for six months.”

Jeonghu smiled as he spotted the living quarters containers set up for shelter residents and soldiers in a corner of the field.

There were at least five containers lined up neatly.

“Really? The military’s gotten better these days. Back in the day, they would’ve made you live in squad tents. That could be useful. Think we can take it to the shelter?”

“With the Hydraulic Crane and trailer, it’s totally possible.”

“Good. We’ll take those when we have time… For now, you check behind the containers for anything useful. I’ll search inside the school.”

“Yes, Father.”

Watching Jeonghu head for the containers, Yohan made his way toward the school building.

After the Third Game ended, reports began to spread nationwide that shelters in various regions, like Bucheon, had failed to fulfill their roles. The government’s countermeasures were proving useless.

As distrust in the government’s ability to protect the people grew, society which was already hard to control, became even more chaotic.

Evil groups like the Bucheon Brothers Clan seized key locations and formed organizations, and the number of criminals acting alone and killing people skyrocketed.

Through the still-functioning internet, these people started to be called ‘villains.’

A world where villains existed.

If that was the case, was there no hero who could defeat them and save people?

Unfortunately, reality was not like the movies righteous people who risked themselves to save others were rare.

Even those who did step up were usually killed and disappeared at the hands of villains who would stop at nothing.

With no one left to rely on, people began to realize they had to protect themselves.

And when those people became dozens, then hundreds, they banded together, forming communities of shared fate to protect themselves.

The style of these groups varied by region and neighborhood, but the same movement was beginning in Bucheon as well.

In one apartment complex,

In the central playground, what was once human flesh now lay scattered across the ground.

In the middle of it all, a man drenched in blood looked around at the apartment buildings surrounding the playground and shouted.

“Residents of Seong-a Apartment! Are we just going to cower here in fear? What crime have we committed, everyone?”

If not for the gruesome blood covering him, he would have looked like an ordinary man in his mid-thirties.

His name was Kim Taehyun.

Until not long ago, he had been an ordinary office worker.

Taehyun wiped the blood from his face and shouted again.

“The government isn’t protecting us, and the people they took away to ‘protect’ just ran off and left us! If we can’t trust the military, who can we trust? How long are we going to starve, hiding in our homes, everyone?”

Taehyun appealed to his neighbors.

He, too, had locked himself in his apartment and held his breath like everyone else.

But when the food ran out and he was down to just a few packets of ramen, he couldn’t stand it any longer, when his wife was too weak to move from hunger, he finally broke.

He fought off monsters that appeared from who knows where, and even defeated the gangsters who came to attack the apartment.

After facing so many enemies alone, he was no longer afraid.

All that remained was the pent-up rage he had suppressed until now.

“Let’s protect ourselves from now on! If we keep going like this, we’ll all die! Everyone, let’s do this together!”

His voice echoed throughout the entire complex.

As his words spread, and things quieted down, he looked out at the still-silent apartment buildings and hung his head.

“This can’t go on…”

The Third Game was over, but sooner or later, the Fourth Game would begin.

In the meantime, countless villains who had already begun to move would run rampant.

For the sake of his family, Taehyun thought this couldn’t go on.

He didn’t know the details, but he’d realized that his abilities were a bit more special than others—but even so, he knew he couldn’t survive with just his wife.

Hoping there were others who would stand with him, he was about to shout again when—

A man appeared from Building 104, on the left side of the central playground.

He looked to be in his forties and was carrying a giant axe, almost as big as a person, slung over his shoulder.

“I’ll… do it with you!”

“…Th-thank you!”

As Taehyun sincerely expressed his gratitude, more and more people began to emerge from the apartment buildings.

“Great! Let’s do it together!”

Some people even stuck their heads out from the balconies and shouted.

“Waaaaah!”

Before long, a considerable number of people were clapping and cheering thunderously.

“Thank you! Thank you, everyone!”

With that small movement as the beginning, more and more people joined in, and soon all the survivors of Seong-a Village became one.

The group, which had formed simply to protect their own apartment complex, now numbered over 140 households more than 400 people, a formidable force.

No one knew not Kim Taehyun, not the people of Bucheon, not even Yohan’s family—what would become of this group in the future.