Albakgi (1)
Park Sae-rom muttered while chewing on a chocolate bar.
"It's not like vampires are crawling all over all of Ulsan. So, like… maybe half?"
It wasn't the most despair-inducing number.
At least it didn't mean the whole city had turned into a vampire nest.
"South of the Taehwa River is vampire territory, so it's dangerous there, but just crossing the river makes things a lot better. Over there, humans are actually the bigger threat!"
Listening to her through the Eye of the Absolute, something didn't add up.
This place was clearly south of the Taehwa River.
Which meant… this was vampire territory.
I activated the Ring of Communication and conveyed my question to Kim Gun.
[Could you ask her why she was being chased in vampire territory?]
Kim Gun gave a small nod, then parroted my words like a talking bird.
"If this is vampire territory, like you say, then why were you being chased by vampires here?"
"Oh, that?"
Park Sae-rom, having just finished off her chocolate bar, casually slipped into informal speech.
"Things got a little screwed up."
Then she glanced at me and asked, "Anyway, how much more of that stuff can you make?"
Kim Gun looked at her with an unamused expression, prompting her to sheepishly add a polite ending.
"…sir?"
I let out a soft chuckle and bought a 1.25-liter bottle of cola and a bag of ABC chocolates from the shop.
Whirr—
As the chilled cola and chocolates materialized midair, Park Sae-rom's eyes sharpened like a predator spotting prey.
Before Kim Gun could even reach for them, she lunged forward and snatched them out of the air.
Only then did we get an actual answer.
"Why else would I risk my life to come all the way here? Obviously, I came to get food. I've got some mouths to feed, you know."
Despite not even finishing what was already in her hands, she had slipped right back into informal speech.
Suppressing a chuckle, Kim Gun listened as Park Sae-rom made a subtle proposal in a coaxing tone.
"So, hey… would you maybe come with me for a bit?"
Kim Gun didn't respond right away, which she seemed to take as a sign of hesitation. She pushed on, her voice a bit more urgent now.
"I mean, think about it. You seem to have questions too, right? Why don't we head somewhere safer and have a nice, deep talk?"
She wasn't wrong.
It made sense to move somewhere safer before having a real conversation—this was vampire HQ, after all.
Honestly, I've already heard most of what I needed.
Knowing that there were still survivor groups north of the Taehwa River was already a big win.
At most, what's left is finding out who makes up those survivor groups.
From the sound of it, it didn't seem like all the survivors were united under a single banner.
I was curious about what was going on over there.
[Let's go hear her out. I'm also curious about what she meant when she said humans are more dangerous.]
Kim Gun nodded slightly, then spoke.
"Where are we headed?"
"First, you should transform."
The moment Kim Gun dropped the honorifics, Park Sae-rom relaxed and did the same.
She watched in awe as Kim Gun merged with Kkamang-i again, then pointed across the river.
"Over there. That's where we need to go."
"Got it."
Once he had a general sense of the direction, Kim Gun flapped his wings and soared into the sky.
"Wait, I'm not on ye—!"
Park Sae-rom didn't get to finish.
Kim Gun had already grabbed her shoulders with his talons and hoisted her into the air.
"Hey! Hold on! That hurts, damn it!"
"Just bear with it."
"You piece of—! Let me ride on your back instead!"
"No."
"Why not?!"
Kim Gun responded flatly, beak moving with casual indifference.
"You smell."
At that single brutal remark, Park Sae-rom went slack, staring blankly into space.
"…What?"
"The smell's bad. Really bad."
He wasn't wrong.
The Eye of the Absolute didn't just show vision—it also picked up scents and airflow in the activated area. And yes, Park Sae-rom did reek.
It wasn't surprising.
In this ruined world where even drinking water was hard to find, who had the luxury of staying clean?
It hit me then, just how much of a blessing it was to enjoy these little comforts inside my own domain.
"You little bastard! Get back here! You hear me?!"
As Park Sae-rom flailed and cursed, Kim Gun simply said:
"Stay still. Or you'll fall."
"…Shit."
She took one look at the ground beneath her feet and instantly quieted down.
With the clear winner in that little power struggle, Kim Gun gave a satisfied flap of his wings.
***
"…That's all."
Seo Nu-ri bowed her head deeply as she finished her report.
She squeezed her eyes shut, remaining in that position.
It had only just sunk in—how insignificant her information really was.
All she had to report was the presence of a giant tree, a massive wall protecting it, and something called "citizenship."
She hadn't managed to figure out how any of that had led to the deaths of Jung Young-hoon and Go In-seok.
She was bracing herself for a scolding when—
"Interesting."
!!
An unexpected response.
"A tree the size of an apartment building, huh."
Seo Nu-ri was a little stunned.
It was the first time he had ever seen the man in front of him show any emotion.
The very idea of a smile appearing on the face of a man who always issued commands with the mechanical coldness of a machine—never betraying the slightest feeling—was something he had never dared imagine.
"Hmph."
The man sank deeper into the sofa and brought the wine glass to his lips.
He savored the crimson liquid—like blood swirling in the glass—for a moment, then gave a short command.
"Guide me."
At his words, Seonuri blinked and responded hesitantly.
"…Excuse me?"
The man set the wine glass down on the table and slowly rose to his feet.
Then he spoke again.
"Take me to the tree. I'll go myself."
A beat later, understanding finally hit Seonuri. He answered in a flustered rush.
"I-I'll escort you."
***
The place Park Saerom led them to was a Homeplus, now home to a sizable group of survivors.
It was a large organization, with a population nearing a thousand.
But what intrigued me more than their numbers was—
"Hey, Park Saerom. Still breathing, huh? And who's that behind you? A newbie?"
"Don't bother. I've already marked him."
"Oh? Now you've got me curious, saying it like that."
"Go eat a brick."
The rough greeting came from a middle-aged man trading barbs with Park Saerom.
He was:
[Jung Woong (Lv. 21)]
Awakened Ability: Stone Fist
'Another one.'
An Awakened.
'That makes three already.'
I had now encountered three Awakened individuals within this group of barely a thousand people.
That count included Park Saerom herself.
'Even so, I've now met five in total.'
And I hadn't even explored the entire population.
Just following Park Saerom up from the Homeplus rooftop, I had passed dozens of people—and among them, I had already spotted two more Awakened.
'Why are there so many?'
Based on my previous experience, this was an absurd ratio.
'This doesn't make sense.'
Out of over 50,000 citizens taken in so far, I had only confirmed six "Naturals."
Naturals were those who had possessed awakened abilities even before they were registered as vassals—like Ha Donggeon or Oh Eonju.
Roughly speaking, that meant one Natural for every 8,000 people.
Yet here, in a group of just around a thousand, I had already encountered three Awakened.
'This place might actually be a gold mine.'
Generally speaking, Naturals showed much greater potential—whether they eventually became vassals or signed subordination contracts.
From my perspective, acquiring citizens with high potential was a huge advantage.
'It's a shame I can't issue citizenship immediately.'
Electricity wasn't running, and the Homeplus interior was dim. Park Saerom strode confidently into a door marked Staff Only, where the beam of a bright flashlight welcomed her.
"Ugh. You guys still haven't cleaned up?"
"What the—Park Saerom?"
"Huh? Sis? You're already back?"
"What? Why so fast? I thought for sure you'd failed."
Park Saerom flipped them off without hesitation as she shot back.
"You assholes. Is that what you say to a leader who barely survived and dragged herself back from death?"
"Leader, my ass. Where's your backpack—pawned it off?"
"Ditched it to stay alive, damn it."
She shook her head in irritation, probably recalling the moment they were chased by vampires. Then she tossed a bottle of cola and a bar of chocolate toward the sofa.
"Huh? Is this… cola?"
"Ooooh, hey, looks like it wasn't a total bust after all."
As the others eagerly tore open the chocolate and started sharing it, Park Saerom grabbed the flashlight off the table and shined it toward me.
"So, what are you curious about, dear customer?"
"Who's that?"
"Shut it and sit still."
The way she spoke made it clear she intended to wring a proper payment for any information—probably a reaction to what I'd said earlier.
'No point wasting time.'
I had already taken a rough look around the Homeplus building on my way here.
Things weren't looking great overall.
Judging by the gaunt faces and hollow eyes of the people I passed, it was obvious they were running low on food.
Big-box stores like this were usually prime locations for survival in a crisis.
They offered all sorts of useful supplies and food in large quantities.
Stockpiled goods in the warehouse would have been a huge help early on.
But even this place's resources wouldn't last forever.
They, too, had clearly reached the limit.
Park Saerom had reached the point where she had to risk her life venturing outside—just to find something to eat.
'Shop, open.'
The very thing they were thirsting for, the thing they desperately wanted most—
He decided to give it to them.
Far more than they had expected.
'Call it a kind of shock therapy.'
Boxes appeared around Kim Geon, stacked high with food: bottled water, canned tuna, Spam, emergency rations, instant noodles, fruit, snacks, soda—everything imaginable.
"W-What the…?"
Park Saerom, visibly overwhelmed by the rapidly multiplying mountain of boxes, cautiously approached one.
She opened it.
Rip—
Inside the box were rows of cola cans—her favorite drink.
"Holy…"
!!
Park Saerom froze, creaking like a broken-down robot.
"…No way."
She quietly let out a breath of awe.
Then—
"Huaaaaahhh!"
She suddenly burst into tears.
The scene was so unexpected, it left him momentarily stunned.
Apparently, Kim Geon felt the same—he stood frozen, just watching her silently.
That's when the others from deeper inside reacted.
"Noona? What's wrong?"
"You okay?"
"What is it?"
As Park Saerom wept, the others—who had been preoccupied with chocolate—gathered around to see what was going on.
"What the hell is this…?"
"Where did it come from?"
Some stared in disbelief at the boxes stacked high at the entrance.
"Huwaaah!"
"N-Noona, please don't cry…"
Others tried to comfort Park Saerom as she dropped to the ground, bawling.
"Yo! Holy shit! Look at this! Ramen! Ramen, man!"
"What? Are you serious?!"
People started tearing into the boxes, chaos erupting all around.
"What the hell? Why is it all Jinsoon brand?!"
"Hey, Jinsoon's legit delicious, okay?"
"Ugh, whatever—just give me one. I'm gonna crush it and eat it raw."
In the middle of the frenzy, Park Saerom crawled over to Kim Geon and spoke through her sobs.
"Say—say anything… hic Master… hic I'll do it…"
Apparently, the shock therapy had worked a little too well.
'That's… kinda touching.'
After all, she had risked her life, stepping foot into vampire territory—for her people.
That was no small thing.
"Hic… F-fuck, it's a goddamn lottery… hic A jackpot!"
From that moment on, Park Saerom answered every question faithfully and obediently.
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]