Absolute Dweller-Chapter 22: Expansion of Influence (4)

[Episode 05] Expansion of Influence (4)

“Huk! Huk! Huk!”

Baek Sung-min was sprinting for his life through the underground parking lot.

“Kik!”

“Kyaah!”

“Kiki—! Kikiki!”

Behind him, a swarm of over a dozen goblins was chasing him.

‘Damn it!’

Who knows where they picked it up from, but the sight of goblins wielding kitchen knives and scissors was terrifying in itself.

The blades, sticky with blood and dirt, looked dangerous enough to be lethal upon contact.

‘Just a bit more, a little more!’

The entrance was not far away.

“Kkigieek!”

He could feel the goblins closing in right behind him.

Instinctively sensing the danger, Baek Sung-min jumped with all his might.

Thud—!

Entrance to B1 of the apartment.

Right after he threw himself through it.

“Hey! Stab them!”

“Ugh!”

“Wow, you brought quite a few with you.”

Three men crouching against one side of the wall simultaneously revealed themselves.

They all held makeshift spears, connecting kitchen knives to long sticks.

But even with those crude weapons, they had no trouble hunting down goblins.

Fwoosh!

“Kwaaeaek!”

“Oh!”

The goblins rushed towards the humans in front of them, regardless of their kin dying beside them.

That was their strategy.

When one died, another one rushed at the enemy, clawing and biting.

Thus, they overwhelmed their enemies with sheer numbers, even devouring foes much stronger than themselves.

However.

Dong! Kagak!

“Keek?”

“Keaek?!”

The goblins’ onslaught was thwarted by an invisible barrier.

The attack, carried out at the cost of their kin’s lives, was completely blocked by an unknown force.

Fwoosh! Puk! Puk!

During this time, the three men inside the invisible barrier were vigorously stabbing the goblins.

The goblins, who had rushed in all at once, were trapped between the transparent wall and their fellow goblins pushing haphazardly, unable to escape. The men picked off the goblins like they were playing a doll-grabbing game.

Puk! Puk! Puk!

“Kkueeaek!”

“Kkieeek!”

They mechanically cut off the goblins’ breaths, as if accustomed to such situations.

By the time about half of the goblins died in vain, the goblins who understood the situation began to retreat.

“Hey! Over there! That one’s trying to escape!”

“These guys are starting to scatter!”

“Just stab anywhere for now!”

As the goblins started to flee, the men boldly stepped outside the transparent wall.

The goblins, already losing their determination, either fled or were caught without putting up much of a fight, getting stabbed to death by the crude spears.

“Hey! I’ll show you something fun.”

One of the men said while clearing out the fleeing goblins.

“Heup!”

He forcefully threw the makeshift spear.

The spear flew several meters and hit a goblin squarely in the back.

“Kwaaeaek!”

“Nice! Did you see that? You saw it, right?”

“Boss, nice shot~.”

There was no trace of fear towards the goblins from the men.

If anything, they seemed overly relaxed.

It was because they had already repeated this style of hunting several times.

Since the appearance of the goblin quest five days ago, the four people here, including Baek Sung-min, had already cleared the quest to hunt 10 goblins using this method.

The man who threw the spear and hit a goblin asked the others.

“Hey, how many did you guys catch?”

“Wait. Um, I got twelve.”

“I won. I got twenty-four.”

What they were talking about was the number of goblins killed written on the quest window.

Once they cleared the initial quest to hunt 10 goblins, a similar quest was immediately assigned.

Although it was a quest to hunt 100 goblins, the second quest had no penalties, so it wasn’t burdensome.

They simply used it to count the number of goblins hunted.

The man who threw the spear muttered to himself and calculated.

“So, if we combine the three of us, we’ve hunted over a hundred, right?”

“Really? Already?”

“Wow. I was wondering when we’d reach a hundred at first.”

At that moment, Baek Sung-min, who was catching his breath from behind, protested.

“Ah, damn it, Sung-yeop! I swear we’ve only killed like twenty at most!”

As Baek Sung-min retorted, Baek Sung-yeop responded with an irritated tone.

“What’s your complaint now? Huh?”

“Damn it, do you really see that as just twenty?”

“Seems the same.”

“Hah… damn it.”

Upon this, Baek Sung-yeop gave a friendly laugh and patted his brother’s back.

The intensity of the pat was anything but light.

“Well, if it worked out well, that’s all that matters. What’s there to complain about? Besides, we’ll have a new house soon.”

“I almost died because of you!”

“Ha, little brother.”

Baek Sung-yeop said with a frown.

“Who do you think came up with this hunting strategy?”

“…”

“It was me.”

Baek Sung-yeop continued as if he hadn’t expected an answer in the first place.

“I planned the strategy, and the twins made the spears. So, your role is to act as bait. Aren’t you confident at running?”

“That’s…”

“In the end, no one got hurt, and it ended well. What are you so unhappy about? If you’re dissatisfied, why don’t you leave the team? We’ve already caught over a hundred without you.”

“…”

As the atmosphere grew tense, the twins, Moon Ji-hoon and Moon Sang-hoon, stepped forward to calm down Baek Sung-yeop.

“Sung-yeop hyung, be patient. Sung-min did well.”

“Yeah, Sung-min did a great job acting as bait. He was really fast, wasn’t he?”

“Agreed. I thought he was Usain Bolt~.”

With their playful tone, Baek Sung-yeop’s expression softened.

“Whew. This kid really knows how to piss people off. Where did you learn to curse at your older brother?”

As the mood seemed to lighten, Moon Ji-hoon tapped Baek Sung-min on the back.

“Sung-min, hey, you crossed the line a bit with cursing at your brother~. Apologize quickly.”

Baek Sung-min apologized with his head bowed.

“…Sorry.”

Baek Sung-yeop picked up his spear without looking at his younger brother.

“All right. Let’s go to the 21st floor now. We need to receive the new house.”

“I’ll give you the old one~ Bring on the new house~.”

Confident that they were the first team to hunt a hundred goblins, they entered the elevator.

However, reality was slightly different from their expectations.

“I’m sorry, but another team has already received the rewards.”

“…There’s a team that hunted a hundred before us?”

“Yes.”

Baek Sung-yeop let out a bitter laugh.

“Hey, Ms. Dabin. Are you trying to make fun of us? It’s not funny. Stop joking and bring out the new house quickly.”

“It’s not a joke.”

Kim Dabin said with a bright smile.

“They’re coming. The team that hunted a hundred goblins before you.”

Baek Sung-yeop’s group turned their heads to look at the team Kim Dabin mentioned.

There, a muscular man, a middle-aged man emitting a dignified atmosphere, and a woman who seemed to enjoy chatting were approaching.

Overwhelmed by the force they exuded, Baek Sung-yeop subconsciously took a step back.

Kim Dabin spoke to Kim Minho, the muscular man.

“How did it go?”

“Saw them. Gave up on the new house and instead, they’ll supply food and electricity to Mr. Ji-ho’s house, and Mr. Ji-ho’s daughters are exempt from quests.”

“Huh? Aren’t Mr. Ji-ho’s daughters minors? Shouldn’t minors be exempt from quests?”

The answer came from Nam Ji-ho.

“Both of them are adults.”

“Ah, I see.”

With a delighted smile, Nam Ji-ho’s wife, Moon Hae-ri, spoke.

“Hoho. Our kids look a little young. They take after their mom.”

“I-Is that so? Haha.”

“They’re good at archery too like their father, but you can’t help but be worried about your kids.”

Honestly, he thought they resembled Nam Ji-ho more than Moon Hae-ri, but he didn’t say it out loud.

At that moment, Kim Minho suddenly remembered and said.

“Oh, right. We were also promised bows and arrows for Mr. Ji-ho.”

The compound bows and arrows that Nam Ji-ho and Moon Hae-ri had were borrowed items until the goblin hunt was over.

Upon hearing that they would receive them outright, Kim Dabin asked.

“Why bows and arrows? Are you planning to continue goblin hunting?”

“Yeah. Mr. Jae-hyun asked me to clear out some goblins nearby. Those pesky goblin babies. No matter how many you catch, there’s no end to them.”

Up to that point, Baek Sung-yeop, who had been quietly eavesdropping on the siblings’ conversation, intervened.

“Wait a minute. Isn’t this favoritism? You guys are insiders and getting separate bows and arrows! Isn’t this unfair?”

Upon Baek Sung-yeop’s passionate protest, Kim Minho applauded and opened his mouth towards his sister.

“Oh, right. Noona, that person said something similar. If it seems unfair, he said he would give similar benefits to the 2nd and 3rd place teams and asked you to send them to the 30th floor.”

“Really?”

Kim Dabin, wearing a business-like smile, spoke to Baek Sung-yeop.

“Did you hear that? Good. Go up to the 30th floor with your party members. That person will be waiting for you.”

“…Alright.”

Baek Sung-yeop was full of dissatisfaction, but he didn’t express it.

After all, as long as he got a house with electricity, water, and gas, that was enough for him.

“Let’s go.”

??―

[21st floor.]

[Door opens.]

As soon as they boarded the elevator, Baek Sung-yeop complained to his colleagues.

“Ha! According to rumors, he’s younger than us. Isn’t it ridiculous that others refer to him extremely politely?”

[Footnote: Everyone uses honorifics when referring/talking to Jae-hyun even though he’s younger. Typically, younger people aren’t treated so respectfully.]

“I know right. Pfft. Who does he think he is, Jesus?”

“Maybe not Jesus, more like a cult leader.”

“Right! That’s it!”

While the twins enthusiastically agreed with Baek Sung-yeop, Baek Sung-min suddenly spoke.

“I wonder if we have the right to say that while enjoying protection under that person’s abilities.”

“…”

“Besides, aren’t we on our way to look good in front of that person?”

In an instant, the atmosphere in the elevator froze.

“Hey, you…”

Just as Baek Sung-yeop was about to say something.

??―

[30th floor.]

[Door opens.]

They arrived on the 30th floor.

“…We’ll talk later.”

When Baek Sung-yeop stepped out of the elevator and was about to press the bell, there was a metallic click.

The front door swung open, revealing a man exuding an indescribable atmosphere.

An overwhelming presence that was breathtaking.

“Nice to meet you.”

Gulp.

Upon direct confrontation, Baek Sung-yeop’s disrespectful demeanor from the elevator disappeared completely.

Facing the man, he naturally adopted a polite attitude, lowering his posture.

“H-Hello, I-I’m Baek Sung-yeop.”

The man smiled and spoke.

“I’ve watched the performance of you and your team. The way you used the transparent barriers for stable hunting was quite impressive.”

Baek Sung-yeop was secretly astonished.

‘How did he know?’

While the hunting technique he discovered was gradually spreading among the citizens, it was still known only to a few.

He never expected this man on the 30th floor to be aware of it.

While he was confused, the man continued to speak.

“I will provide electricity, water, and gas to units 1301 and 1502.”

These were the respective homes of the Baek Sung-yeop brothers and the twins.

Although they weren’t receiving new homes, it was acceptable.

Essentially, what they wanted was a house with utilities, not necessarily a new home.

In fact, if their original homes received these utilities, it would be an even better outcome from their perspective.

“I-Is that possible?”

“Of course.”

“If we need to live with other survivors to make it possible…”

“Your party has hunted over 100 goblins. It’s more than enough.”

Baek Sung-yeop, who was genuinely pleased, momentarily hardened his expression.

Because he noticed something strange.

‘How does he know the exact details of our homes?’

At that moment, Kim Jae-hyun spoke with a playful smile.

“Oh, by the way, I’m not a cult leader. Certainly not Buddha or Jesus either.”

“What?”

Baek Sung-yeop got goosebumps for a moment.

The conversation he and the twins had inside the elevator came to mind.

‘Surely not.’

Facing the now pale-faced Baek Sung-yeop, the man continued.

“I have one small request.”

“O-Of course. Please tell us!”

Baek Sung-yeop was ready to comply with any request.

“It’s nothing much. I’d like you to continue hunting goblins as you’ve been doing. It’s a little small, but I want you to think of these offerings as my sincerity.”

With his words, items began to appear from thin air.

Starting with rice, followed by ramen, onions, carrots, eggs, milk, a set of bow and arrows, as well as three well-made spears.

Unlike the crude spears with knives attached to sticks that they had made, these were real spears.

Baek Sung-yeop, who witnessed this strange power of making items appear in mid-air, bowed down to his waist and shouted loudly.

“T-Thank you! We will do our best!”

His appearance resembled that of a newly assigned private in the army, eager to serve.