Chapter 127
The distance was far, and it was dark around here, so I knew there was no way he could see us from there… and yet, I instinctively frowned.
At the same time, someone approached from behind Do Yoseol and seemed to ask him something.
A man with long hair tied carelessly and wearing glasses.
The moment I saw him, I knew who it was.
‘Kim Taekjin.’
That damn bat bastard.
That bat is with Do Yoseol right now?
—
[“Kim Taekjin” has been added to the character dictionary.]
[Kim Taekjin (□□□□ Benefactor) of the “Ruined World”]
Importance: 4/5
???: 0/5
<Records>
A character whose actions are only confirmed in certain chapters.
Search the chapters below to track his actions.
—
Why is his importance higher than Do Yoseol’s?
Of course it is.
That bastard is a bat… he sticks himself into every important group.
How good must his survival skills be to always land a major position?
Every time I played the game, I ended up recruiting him too.
First of all, he roamed around all sorts of groups, so he was easy to encounter.
And as long as you stayed on good terms with him, you could gain various advantages.
If your affinity with him was high.
He was the type who could pay off a thousand nyang of debt with words, so things went more smoothly than expected.
You know how smooth talkers are highly valued even in modern times?
He was exactly like that.
Whenever he joined a group, he always tried to contribute diligently, and his own abilities weren’t bad either.
That’s why he always gained people’s trust.
‘But that doesn’t change the fact that he’s a merit-obsessed bastard who’ll stab you in the back at any time.’
Even in the novel, whenever the power structure shifted because of Sa Jaeheon, he always belonged to the leading group.
Even knowing his bat-like nature, new groups still accepted him.
Because he had built up solid credibility through that same “bat-like” ability, he was competent.
Even Sa Jaeheon tried recruiting him a few times, but scrapped the idea because the moment he was cornered, he would immediately switch sides.
‘I kept getting stabbed in the back by him in the game too.’
—
[Still, if he proves himself useful, perhaps he could become an ally?]
[It might be about time to recruit a new companion.]
—
What’s the point of feeding and housing him?
That cold, calculating glasses-wearing bastard would only be thinking about stabbing me in the back.
Well, I guess my luck wasn’t great either.
‘He’s different from Lee Hoin.’
If Lee Hoin’s issue was trauma, then that one’s issue was something innate.
His disposition.
His traits.
So I have no intention of recruiting him.
And seeing him attached to Do Yoseol right now… this place definitely needs to be left as soon as possible.
I let out a sigh and packed my belongings faster.
“Leaving now?”
“No. Just preparing.”
Lee Hoin glanced downward for a moment, then asked:
“What’s with the guy next to that doctor? Why did you frown when you saw him?”
Did I frown?
I paused for a moment, thinking about how to answer.
“Just… he’s someone I’ve never seen before. There wasn’t anyone like that at the mart. Even when Kim Woohyun talked about it, there was no one like him.”
“……”
“I was just wondering who he was. I can’t just assume he’s a bad person… but just because he’s not a bad person doesn’t mean he won’t be hostile to us.”
Lee Hoin looked down.
Kim Taekjin looked like someone obviously intelligent.
Cold, sharp… like someone with a professional title.
Or maybe a conman.
“I had a bit of a conflict with that doctor at the end. ‘Conflict’ might not even be the right word. When I said I was going up to find you, that guy was the one who tried to stop me.”
I scratched my head a little as I spoke.
“That mart basically revolved around a few people, right? That guy Lee Hyun, for one. Actually, he did almost everything. And the one he followed was that doctor. So in reality, that doctor was the one in charge.”
Lee Hoin kept listening.
“And he has control issues.”
“Control issues?”
“If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have tried to forcibly stop me from leaving the mart. The place he worked so hard to maintain ended up going to hell in multiple ways. Based on what Kim Woohyun said. And Lee Hyun leaving that place… if you think about it, I had a big influence on that too.”
“……Wasn’t that just that police guy’s decision?”
“It was his decision. But some people can’t accept that and look for someone to blame. And people who don’t look for someone to blame don’t try to control others.”
I kept explaining so Lee Hoin could understand the whole situation.
“If the doctor holds hostility toward us, then that guy will probably feel the same toward me… or us. It can’t be helped. Everyone has their own circumstances and timing. Living together with someone who harbors hostility toward us in a place like this… It’s uncomfortable. Especially in a place meant for resting.”
Lee Hoin nodded as if he understood.
“And it’s not like we’re attached to this place enough to start playing politics here. If you don’t like the temple, the monk leaves.”
“Politics?”
“Subtly building factions and gaining influence within a group. Can you do that?”
Just hearing about it seemed to give him a headache. Lee Hoin shook his head vigorously.
I let out a small breath and continued:
“Actually, we were heading toward where Shin Giyeon is. She said she had something to tell us. Meeting up and resting for a bit wouldn’t be bad either. After Gaehwasan, things were too…”
Can I mention that?
I glanced at Lee Hoin.
He just blinked at me.
“…too mentally exhausting. Shin Giyeon said she’s been staying with her family, and Kim Woohyun seems to have joined his family, too. There should be quite a lot of people there.”
When there are many people, a base naturally forms.
“That place is safer; we’ve built trust there, and it’s better overall. Sorry for not telling you. It’s not that I didn’t want to… I just got caught up thinking about other things.”
Lee Hoin awkwardly nodded, as if caught off guard.
“…No, it’s fine.”
That expression… it was strange.
Before I could even question it, Do Yoseol and Kim Taekjin entered the building we were in.
Probably because this place had a lot of sleeping quarters.
“Anyway, let’s just leave when there aren’t many people around. Once we get in the car, it’ll be quick. We’re not far. We just have to be careful when leaving since it’s noisy.”
***
Late at night.
We walked quietly down the corridor where darkness had fully settled.
We even softened our footsteps.
After walking for a while, just as we were about to completely exit the corridor… in the silent hallway, a voice dropped.
Like something lightly falling at our feet.
“Long time no see, student Muyeong.”
Lee Hoin reflexively grabbed his greatsword, but Do Yoseol didn’t seem startled at all… he simply smiled in the darkness.
—
[He must have gotten quite used to appearing out of nowhere like that.]
[With that frail body, he’d need to at least learn stealth to move around like this. Maybe he found himself a good ninja teacher?]
—
Ignoring the useless chatter of the Window, I frowned and looked at Do Yoseol.
“I’m trying to have a reunion, but this reaction makes things difficult for me as well.”
“A reunion?”
What reunion?
We’re not close enough for that.
“I know why you students hold resentment toward me. But listen… everything always has priorities. At the time, the priority was simply those who were more capable and necessary.”
“So people have priorities?”
Lee Hoin frowned deeply.
I felt irritated too, but how much worse must it feel for the person who had actually been treated as a “disposable card”?
“Do you know how many patients there were at the mart? It wasn’t a structure where we could easily expend talents like Mr. Lee Hyun. Otherwise, everyone there would have died.”
That was bullshit.
Why were there so many patients in the first place?
Because they wore down perfectly fine people to create that structure.
“Then you should’ve let us leave when we said we would.”
“That’s not easy. When people who have just arrived say they’re leaving immediately, it tends to create anxiety.”
“That just sounds like an excuse.”
Do Yoseol slowly smiled with that face that screamed I have no ill intentions.
“It’s not an excuse. I indeed told them firearms should only be used as a last resort. Guns make too much noise and attract all nearby mutants. And there’s no easy way to replenish ammunition. However, I never told anyone to use others as shields. I simply told Mr. Lee Hyun, ‘you must return,’ and ‘this place needs you.’”
A cleverly veiled statement.
It sounded like an overwhelmingly persuasive truth.
No… it was true.
He did say it like that, and the reasoning was close to being logically sound.
But everything always comes down to context and intent.
Do Yoseol subtly hid things between his words and his well-phrased sentences.
He never directly pointed things out.
But he quietly allowed those actions.
“You… back then, when everyone else was wiped out, and only one person came back…”
Do Yoseol was still smiling.
“You praised it.”
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