Even after the third game ended, Yohan’s family was frantically busy.
It struck them anew, but all supplies belonged to whoever got there first and claimed them.
Before word spread about Bucheon Brothers Clan occupying Bucheon Station, they rushed to places like Emart and Daiso at Bucheon Station, doing everything they could to bring in all sorts of supplies.
Rather than being systematic, they literally just brought every item they could find to the shelter.
Not only that, but if anything even remotely usable was left in the now-empty Bucheon High School military unit shelter, they swept it up as well.
That led to a problem.
“The shelter’s too cramped…….”
There were only six people living here, Yohan’s family and Juhui’s family but after bringing in an SUV, a cargo truck, a Dazzi, four container living quarters, and all sorts of goods into the shelter, it became too small.
There was a fairly large vacant lot next to the café used as a parking lot, but after moving all these things in, there was no space left, so the hydraulic crane and trailer they picked up had to be parked in the apartment complex parking lot below the café.
While eating lunch, everyone naturally turned their gaze to Junga at something Yohan said absentmindedly.
“What? What? Why?”
Slurping down her bean sprout soup straight from the bowl, Junga looked around in confusion at the sharp stares.
Yohan looked at Junga and put down his spoon as he spoke.
“Junga.”
“I get nervous when Dad calls me so gently like that. What weird thing do you want me to do now?”
“The shelter’s too cramped.”
“So…… you want me to expand the shelter’s walls?”
“Do us a favor. You’re the only one who knows how to do this stuff.”
“Sigh…….”
Even though she hadn’t started building the walls yet, Junga felt a headache coming and held her head.
It wasn’t an easy task.
For the already scatterbrained Junga, it required tremendous concentration, and summoning a lot of blocks to build walls always gave her a killer headache.
“D-don’t push yourself, just take it slow, okay?”
“Ah, but if I could eat some meat wrapped in lettuce, I think I could manage.”
Everyone paused at Junga’s words.
“Now that I think about it, since all this mess started, we haven’t even grilled pork belly once.”
“Come to think of it, it’s been a while since we had any vegetables, too.”
“We still have some fruit that hasn’t gone bad yet, but soon it might not be easy to have fruit either.”
“Later on, even eating rice might become hard.”
If things kept going like this, they said, a day might come when they’d be grateful just to eat monster meat.
With that, the once warm morning mood turned gloomy.
Yohan pondered with a heavy face before speaking.
“At this rate…… should we try farming at least?”
“Farming?”
“Yeah, there are fields everywhere around here, right?”
Not just next to the shelter, but all around the café were fields.
“It won’t be easy, though?”
“Lettuce or peppers grow fast even with a bit of care once planted. Cherry tomatoes are easy to grow, too.”
“Hmm…… Who knows when this damned situation will end, so collecting seeds and starting a farm ahead of time isn’t a bad idea.”
“Right? Since you brought it up, Seoyoung, start scraping up whatever info you can from the internet.”
“Info?”
“No one knows when, but a day will come when the food runs out, and so will the internet and electricity. To prepare for that, we should collect as much information as possible. It’ll all come in handy.”
“In that case…… how about we just sweep up all the professional books from a bookstore?”
Everyone turned to Jeonghu at his suggestion.
“What? Isn’t it a good idea? Internet sources are great, but if the power and internet go out, books are actually better, right?”
“Wow…… I never thought I’d hear that from a guy who doesn’t even read comics.”
“Have you even been to a bookstore? I can’t believe you’re suggesting it, oppa. That’s surprising.”
“What? Hey! I’ve been to a bookstore! What’s with you!”
“Do they sell dirty magazines at bookstores?”
“Hey! You little punks!”
Watching the bickering siblings, Yohan stroked his chin.
From one to ten, there was nothing they didn’t need to prepare for the future.
No sooner had they finished eating than Yohan and Jeonghu went to Songnae Library to gather up books.
Compared to all the shops on the street that had been thoroughly looted, the library showed no signs of anyone having touched it.
Jeonghu clicked his tongue at the sight.
“People in our country really look down on books.”
“You, of all people, have no right to say that.”
“Yeah, that’s true?”
“Honestly…….”
It must have come from him, but Yohan just couldn’t understand his son’s mindset.
Anyway, Jeonghu, overjoyed, not only swept up all the professional books but also started packing children’s books, educational books, comics, and novels.
“Hey, why those?”
“Children’s and educational books…… No matter how much the world falls apart, Sejeong still has to study, right? And Soyul too. Comics and novels…… well, for fun?”
“……Fine, just take them all.”
There wasn’t enough space to put them in the shelter, but for two people buffed with item and ability, carrying the load wasn’t hard.
With the Dazzi loaded full of books, they were about to head home when—
KWAANG……!
A distant, ominous explosion rang out.
“Seriously, how long has it been since the game ended, and now there’s another mess?”
“Dad, that explosion…… It’s coming from the Songnae direction, right?”
“Uh…… No, wait, maybe a bit farther away…….”
As they spoke, gunfire began to sound, mixed in with the explosions.
It was hard to judge exactly from a distance, but it was clear that a huge number of people were firing guns.
“Are the Battle Survival players gathering to play a real-life game or something? What’s going on?”
“……It might be the military unit.”
“Huh? Oh…… Well, I guess the place with the most guns is the military unit…… What could be happening over there?”
Not knowing, Yohan shook his head.
“They locked themselves up so tightly…….”
It was perhaps inevitable that the 17th Division would be attacked.
The military units had stockpiled all sorts of supplies in preparation for war—enough weapons to fully arm even those with minor abilities, and enough combat rations to last a long time.
Yohan personally thought they should have taken control of Bucheon and imposed order before people got used to the game.
Now, not only villains, but most survivors had become adept at using their abilities.
Among them, there would be powerhouses like Yohan who weren’t afraid of guns, and groups armed with abilities even more destructive than firearms.
To those people, a military unit that locked itself up and did nothing was nothing but a juicy prey.
“Tsk tsk.”
Yohan clicked his tongue as he climbed onto the Dazzi the military unit had left behind.
Knowing that the 17th Division oversaw Bucheon, Incheon, and even Siheung, it was a massive division among military units.
But for the people of Bucheon, the 17th Division was just known as the place a little past Songnae South, on the outskirts.
Not entirely wrong, since the division headquarters guarding the vast area was right there.
It was so big, with even the Logistics Support Command located there, that even if you combined several neighborhoods in Bucheon, the base was still larger.
Honestly, the idea that the Bucheon Brothers Clan could pressure them didn’t make sense.
So how did the Bucheon Brothers Clan manage to pressure and even drive out the military unit shelter sent to support Bucheon?
Not knowing the true size of the 17th Division, Yohan figured the division was just lying low because they couldn’t handle the ability users now.
But that wasn’t the truth.
At first, as many soldiers were injured and killed, not only the division’s subordinate battalions but even the Logistics Support Command failed to cooperate, leading to massive casualties. After that, chaos erupted as infighting and power struggles broke out among the battered military units.
It all started with the death of the Commanding General.
When the situation broke out, the Commanding General died absurdly in an Orc attack while moving from the Commanding General’s Office to the CCC.
With the chain of command shattered, infighting began.
Normally, the Deputy Division Commander would have stepped in, but there were unexpectedly many ambitious people.
At the center was none other than the Logistics Support Command—or rather, now the Logistics Support Brigade’s Brigadier General.
Holding all sorts of supplies and the highest rank, he tried to take over the division, sparking a struggle between his supporters and opponents, which by now had split into three factions locked in ongoing conflict.
Because of that, they couldn’t even properly manage the shelters they were supposed to oversee.
It was almost laughable.
While people were dying outside, they were fighting each other for control inside.
But now, that fight seemed to be coming to an end.
***
“H-hey, General Jang, put down that gun…….”
Bang!
Division Headquarters CCC.
With a single gunshot, the Brigadier General of the Logistics Support Command, who had led the power struggle within the military unit, lost his life.
As his body collapsed on the podium, blood soaking the floor, all eyes turned to him.
“Brigadier General Min is dead. From now on, I’m in command here. Anyone have a problem with that?”
The man who killed Brigadier General Min Young-gu, Brigadier General Jang Min-seong, looked over the gathered battalion commanders and staff officers at the CCC.
In truth, there were only a few commanders and staff at this meeting who had survived.
More than half were acting commanders or acting staff, and the reason for that was also Brigadier General Jang Min-seong.
Jang Min-seong was the commander of the Airborne Brigade stationed in Bucheon.
He was unlike those who had climbed the elite ladder.
Starting as an enlisted soldier, then a non-commissioned officer, and finally commissioning as an officer, he took on the jobs nobody wanted and built up a record, becoming only the second general in the history of non-commissioned officer officers.
Truly a self-made man, a man with three military serial numbers.
It was said that earning a colonel’s star as a non-commissioned officer officer was much harder and more looked down on than for other officers—he was a legend.
He was so proud of it that, unlike other officers who hid their faded commissioning rings, he was famous for always wearing his non-commissioned officer ring.
With his subordinates, he had infiltrated and taken over the 17th Division and the Logistics Support Command.
Having written another legend, he glared at the commanders with an intensity that could kill.
And so, a new faction was born.