The First Hunter Chapter 4: The Relics (1)

< Chapter 4. The Relics (1).>

1.

Kim Taehoon was shopping in the superstore for chocolate, rock salt, almonds, jam, beef jerky…

It wasn’t strange to buy those food items on level B2, it was where the food section of the superstore was located.

Other than the fact that it was almost two in the morning, most of the aisles were collapsed and products had to be picked up off the floor, and instead of putting the products into a shopping cart they were put into a bag which still had a price tag.

Plus, he was not willing to check these items out at a cashier.

In other words, Kim Taehoon was doing the oddest shopping in the world.

“What is the plan from now on?”

While Kim Taehoon was trying to choose one coffee (out of five), Ahn Sunmi followed him and tried to start an actual conversation.

Instead of answering her question, he just picked coffee beans out of one of the ripped bags scattered on the ground and started to chew them in his mouth.

After enjoying the coffee beans for a while he finally spoke.

“I’m planning to leave here as soon as possible. The others should figure out how to survive by themselves.”

“That I know… After seeing what you’re doing.”

“Then you should know how it is.”

“Not that, I want to know what plans you have for the future if you’re leaving here, where are you headed, how are you going to move around, what’s your purpose…”

Kim Taehoon stared at Ahn Sunmi even before she could finish.

His cold stare penetrated straight into Ahn Sunmi’s eyes.

Her words stopped automatically.

Kim Taehoon’s stare had something more than a normal person’s stare, it was not just cold.

Even for her, a doctor who knew better than anyone else about the thin line between life and death, couldn’t fight against it.

“It’s good to be curious, but I don’t have any reason to tell you my plan.”

Ahn Sunmi didn’t continue to ask as she heard Kim Taehoon’s words.

He continued.

“What I need is a subordinate who will obey my orders, not a parasite who would stick to my body and only seek for safety.”

“A parasite?”

At the rough description, Ahn Sunmi’s closed mouth opened up.

“If there’s a little bit of give and take, it would be more like a crocodile and an Egyptian plover bird. But in human society, that kind of symbiotic relationships don’t exist.”

“You…”

Kim Taehoon held his hand up in front of her to stop her from speaking. Ahn Sunmi made a dazed face.

Kim Taehoon flipped the hand. The mark on the back of his hand was revealed.

When Kim Taehoon flipped his hand again to show his palm, Ahn Sunmi took out her phone from her pants, unlocked it and showed a picture of him.

[Basic ability]

Strength: 11

Stamina: 14

[Special ability]

Magic:  C+

Magic Resistance: C+

Defense: F

[Acquired ability]

Kim Taehoon was able to see what abilities she had through the picture of her mark,

He then spoke.

“Become a survivor, or be under my command. Choose one or the other.”

Ahn Sunmi remembered it again.

The scene where she had tried to run away with Bhang Hyunwook, who was the subordinate of Kim Taehoon, while Kim Taehoon was in a brutal battle with the Black Orc.

That was exactly why…

Why Kim Taehoon was like this against Ahn Sunmi, it was because of her previous behavior.

‘C+ for magic. On her 3rd year of residency. If she becomes one of us, she could be useful.’

He wasn’t trying to pay her back for what she did.

Kim Taehoon could understand why she acted like that.

She was a survivor, not his colleague or a subordinate, and she showed courage to get out of that situation.

It was a bit baffling when she took Bhang Hyunwook with her, but in the end, it’s true that it was a good change for Bhang Hyunwook to turn his way of thought.

But it was only understandable because she was a survivor.

If she were under Kim Taehoon’s command and did the same thing he would have never forgiven her.

The one who fled a battle without permission, in an actual battle, was more dangerous than the enemy.

Kim Taehoon had given Ahn Sunmi the choices.

The rest was up to her now.

Either she becomes a regular survivor, found her own way, and split from Kim Taehoon.

Or she became one of his subordinates, who obeyed his orders and followed him.

“What’s the condition of being under your command?”

“Absolute obedience.”

Ahn Sunmi bit her lips a bit.

“Okay, even if you want me to be naked, I will be.”

“I don’t want anything like that, just some determination is enough. If you’re going to betray me, do it properly with your life on the line. A determination like that.”

Kim Taehoon stood up from the floor with that statement. He didn’t choose any coffee.

“You don’t need coffee anymore?”

“I’m not desperate for this kind of shit.”

“Sir!”

They heard Bhang Hyunwook’s voice. He had three bags with him one slung on his back, another across his chest and the last was in his left hand. In his right hand, he held a new baseball bat.

He had retrieved the things Kim Taehoon asked him to get from level B1.

When Bhang Hyunwook appeared, Kim Taehoon started to walk towards the escalator without hesitation. It was time to leave.

Ahn Sunmi took a bag from Kim Taehoon and started to follow him.

“Uh, Sir. May I ask you a question?” Bhang Hyunwook asked.

“Go ahead.”

“... What are you going to do with the people here?”

He had asked this because of the looks the survivors had given him.

While Bhang Hyunwook was taking products from level B1, as Kim Taehoon had ordered, the people who escaped to that floor were giving him desperate looks.

Truly desperate and depressed looks.

They were so desperate to the point they didn’t even know how to ask for favors.

Bhang Hyunwook couldn’t look away from them.

That’s why he wanted Kim Taehoon to be the hero right now.

“They have to figure it out by themselves.”

“Huh?”

“If you want to stay and protect them, do it. But don’t expect me to help you.”

But Kim Taehoon did not want to be the hero at all.

No, if Kim Taehoon really wanted to be one he should walk away from them right now.

A true hero would know which ones to sacrifice for the greater good.

Bhang Hyunwook thought for a moment after what Kim Taehoon said.

But he didn’t think for too long.

If he left Kim Taehoon, his eyes would turn into the same eyes as those desperate people who were looking at him.

“I will follow you.”

“It was smart to use the cooking oil.”

Kim Taehoon gave him a short compliment.

“Yeah? Ah!”

At the first compliment coming from Kim Taehoon, Bhang Hyunwook made a big smile on his face.

“Right? It was an impeccable idea even now when I think about it. If I were this brilliant back then I would have gotten into the pro league… No, If I got in I wouldn’t have met you…”

“What is our plan from now on?”

Ahn Sunmi noticed that Bhang Hyunwook was going to start rambling, so she immediately interrupted him.

She hadn’t gotten what she wanted yet, so she didn’t have time for Bhang Hyunwook’s chatter.

Kim Taehoon answered her this time.

“The first thing to do is leave here.”

“For what reason?”

“The short answer or the long, which do you want?”

“Bit specific…”

“This place will turn into hell when the sun rises.”

Hell.

Bhang Hyunwook and Ahn Sunmi’s faces stiffened.

“...You mean there’s going to be another monster?”

“It will be hell even without monsters.”

“What does that mean…”

When they had reached the ground floor a guy approached them.

“Uh, hey…”

There was no tension.

Because it was Park Jaewoon.

He, who had survived in this chaos, approached Kim Taehoon worriedly and asked a worried question.

“What should we do now?”

Behind Park Jaewoon, they could see his wife holding their daughter with puffy eyes because of continuous crying.

Kim Taehoon gave him short advice.

“It might be best to go next door to city hall after packing about five days worth of food. Pick food which has a high number of calories, such as chocolates. Also, invest in keeping yourself warm. Don’t try to move around with a car, but use cars as tents. It will also be useful to get some tools and to carry the child on your back like in a baby carrier blanket.”

Unexpectedly kind advice.

But to Park Jaewoon it was the harshest directions.

Because it meant he had to survive by himself.

“Ah…”

Park Jaewoon’s face turned pale.

The fact that the world was flooding with unknown monsters, infrastructure was down, and he had to survive with his wife and daughter in this chaos, made his face turn pale.

But Park Jaewoon bowed his head to Kim Taehoon with a pale face.

“Thank you. Thank you for saving us.”

He didn’t forget the minimum amount of courtesy and manners. If he didn’t have that, he would have already abandoned his family and run away.

That was also why Kim Taehoon gave him the short advice.

From what Kim Taehoon saw Park Jaewoon deserved to survive.

Ahn Sunmia and Bahng Hyunwook stared at Park Jaewoon with sad faces as he stepped away.

‘Yeah. He should be alright. This is right.’

‘… I never thought that I would think the ER would be peaceful and hopeful.’

Who could have imagined this kind of terrible scenes in this place?

But what was worse was they couldn’t even imagine what was going to happen next.

However, Kim Taehoon’s look was cold. He could easily predict what was going to happen tomorrow and in the future.

“The population of Bucheon city is 800,000. The number of people who died instantly when the bomb hit Hiroshima was 70,000. Even with that absolute disaster, it’s hard to surpass 100,000 casualties. Therefore even with this incident, the survivors in this city should be at least 700,000.”

Kim Taehoon continued his explanation.

“That means in Bucheon there are 700,000 people who are terrified by the monsters, waiting for the sun to rise, without any electricity, communication, gas or social services such as the police and fire departments.”

“Ah.”

Ahn Sunmi felt like her entire spirit being drained away.

She had pictured it.

As to what would happen once the sun rose in Bucheon.

“The majority of monsters who caused this mess will be walking around the city alive, or hiding in some places, and you don’t know when more powerful monsters will appear.”

This was truly a hell.

“Above that, there’s no possibility that this only happened in Bucheon. If it were restricted to Bucheon someone would have come to help from Seoul, Incheon or from anywhere else but we have seen no signs. Maybe the whole world is like this.”

What’s important was this was only the beginning.

“In my opinion, there are two things we need to do to survive this situation,”

Kim Taehoon had already experienced this a lot.

How would humans, who thought that this was the end of the world, behaved on a stage where there was no actual government.

“They would behave with common sense and use violence to enforce that common sense.”

He also knew the most effective method to deal with such people.

“I will tell you the plan. There’s a police precinct near here. We will get weapons from there. And then we move to Ojeong-dong.”

“Why Ojeong-dong…”

“There’s a military base there with better weapons.”

The End.

Chapter end