Absolute Dweller

[Episode 13] Building the Foundation (2)

“They have rifles at the police station? Isn’t that more of a military thing?”

“Yes. As you know, South Korea has a ceasefire, so to prepare for unexpected situations, they store enough weapons in the police station armory.”

While searching for people during the rescue operation, I had used the Absolute Dweller’s Eyes to scan the entire area and had seen police boxes, but there was no armory there.

‘It seems that only larger police stations have separate armories.’

I asked him, “Where is the nearest police station from here?”

“The nearest one should be the Busanjin Police Station in Seomyeon.”

“Which way is it?”

“It’s near Seomyeon Station, around the Lotte Department Store.”

I immediately used the Absolute Dweller’s Eyes to survey the newly expanded area.

Here…

The place he mentioned had been thoroughly destroyed by the Cyclops.

‘I can’t figure out where it is.’

The area was full of collapsed buildings, making it impossible to identify the location of the police station.

Looking at the person who suggested the idea about the police station, I said, “Yang Ji-ho, please form a team and start right away.”

“Me?”

“Yes, don’t worry too much. Since the area has expanded, the police station is probably included in it. If it’s outside the area, don’t force it.”

Yang Ji-ho nodded and asked, “But what about the team members?”

“I will temporarily appoint all team members that you select. Choose them yourself.”

“Oh, thank you!”

If it’s outside the area, we can use Seo Ye-jin’s mice to secure the armory.

“Well then, please leave for now.”

“Understood!”

Yang Ji-ho left, and I continued the discussion with the remaining people.

“Who was the person who mentioned public security earlier?”

“It was me.”

“If we’re going to form a police force, how do you plan to recruit personnel?”

“I want to actively recruit people who used to work as police officers before the apocalypse, because they should already have the abilities.”

It was indeed a reasonable opinion.

If they were former police officers, it meant they had passed the physical and basic personality tests.

Although there was a widespread aversion to various occupations on the internet, in reality, many people had beliefs related to their professions.

Professor Lee Sung-min, who currently runs the medical team, was one of them.

He was a good person who believed in taking responsibility for saving people.

Most of the former police officers would be the same.

There were many people who fulfilled their responsibilities with good hearts and beliefs, and that was why our society had been running smoothly so far.

“Good. Let’s run a trial first. How many people do you think would be appropriate?”

“For a trial run, I think around ten people would be fine.”

“Understood. Please form and operate the team yourself. Let me know if you need more personnel.”

“Yes!”

Then, another person raised their hand and said, “Our team has a project in progress. You may remember from the report I gave last time, but we are currently operating a cafe, bakery, and ice cream shop under your permission. We would like to expand this.”

I had heard about it through Kim Dabin.

It wasn’t difficult to supply electricity or gas, so I remember supporting them right away.

Among the projects they were working on, the cafe had received particularly good responses from the citizens.

“I will actively support you, so do your best as much as possible.”

“Thank you!”

In that way, roles were assigned one by one, and the tasks that had originally been concentrated on Kim Dabin alone were divided up.

“Well, let’s get moving right away.”

“Yes!”

That day, I was busy assigning positions to the newly appointed managers and supporting them.

The team selected by Yang Ji-ho had also arrived at the Busanjin Police Station.

No, it was the place that used to be the Busanjin Police Station.

Through the Absolute Dweller’s Eyes, I saw Yang Ji-ho’s team looking around with a disappointed expression.

One of Yang Ji-ho’s team members asked with a sigh, “Team leader, did you say there was an armory underground?”

“That’s right.”

“I guess we can’t even try to enter.”

The entire Busanjin Police Station building was completely destroyed.

Unfortunately, it had been in the path of the Cyclops.

It was in such a state that we couldn’t even try to enter.

“Should we at least search the surroundings?”

“Yes, that would be a good idea. We might still find some firearms.”

Yang Ji-ho’s team started cautiously searching through the wreckage of the destroyed building.

‘Here it is.’

I immediately moved my sight underground to search for what appeared like an armory.

And…

Could it be here?

I was able to find a place that seemed to be an armory.

It was a basement with no light, but that was no problem for me.

This place was also part of my territory.

I could easily grasp what was in the darkness.

But.

‘Nothing.’

All the gun boxes and places where ammunition should have been stored were empty.

‘Someone took all the guns from here!’

And it was before the Cyclops had destroyed the police station.

I didn’t know if those people were police officers or civilians who, like Yang Ji-ho, knew that there were weapons in the police station.

One thing was clear.

‘There’s a group of survivors armed with rifles.’

From the look of the armory, it was not just a few.

They would have enough rifles to arm hundreds of people with an armory of this size.

With that kind of firepower, goblins or orcs would not be a threat.

One bullet would end them.

‘Where did they go?’

Seeing everything emptied like this, it was clear that they were an organized group.

‘Dangerous.’

I had always granted citizenship to everyone who approached my territory fairly.

The same was true when the homebound area expanded through leveling up. I accepted everyone, regardless of age or gender, as citizens.

That was because citizenship registration was very relaxed, and it was ambiguous to set criteria for who to accept and who to reject. What criteria could I set just by looking at them for the first time?

So, I decided to accept everyone for now.

There were also many more advantages with increases in population.

‘But people with guns are dangerous!’

Guns were objects that could not only send monsters, but also people to their demise.

It could be powerful weapons when controlled, but not everyone granted citizenship was under my control.

There were still many more people who remained in their homes than those who gathered under the guidance of the rescue teams.

This meant that there were at least thousands of people I hadn’t confirmed.

‘There could be people armed with guns among the newly accepted!’

I immediately began to scour the surroundings using the Absolute Dweller’s Eyes.

My predictions were correct.

Not far away, in a relatively intact villa, I found people who owned rifles.

I immediately registered the M16 lying on the sofa in the shop.

‘Item Registration.’

Next, I looked for bullets to load into the gun.

‘Where are the bullets?’

However, no matter how hard I searched, I couldn’t find any bullets.

Three family members were sitting together in the living room, breaking up instant noodles and sharing it.

“Dad, is this the last one?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry, Daddy will bring more.”

“You’re going to go out again?”

“I have to.”

He picked up the gun that had been lying to one side on the sofa.

Then his daughter said, “…But you don’t have any bullets left. What are you going to do with that?”

“I’ll figure something out.”

“Are you going to hit the monsters with that? Say something that makes sense!”

I quietly provided them with relief supplies, including water and ramen.

“Huh?”

They froze at the sudden appearance of relief supplies.

‘They’ll take care of it themselves.’

Since I also provided a gas burner, they would be able to have a warm meal after a long time.

After providing the basics, I focused on finding bullets and finally found a man holding a gun loaded with bullets.

He was not breathing.

When the Cyclops went wild, he seemed to have been trapped under the collapsed building debris.

Zzing.

I collected the gun he was holding and set fire to his body.

Whoosh!

With Kkami’s level-up, my fire magic had become powerful enough to easily burn at least one body.

‘Rest in peace.’

It was my own way of mourning.

Afterwards, I searched the area for a while and found others with the same type of gun. But even when combined, they were only about a few dozen.

‘There can’t be just these.’

The number of rifles estimated to be stored in the police station armory was at least several hundred.

It meant there must be a large-scale armed group somewhere, but I couldn’t find them nearby.

‘Let’s distribute the rifles where needed for now!’

I immediately focused one field of the Absolute Dweller’s Eyes on Jang Sung-jun.

Jang Sung-jun and his group, who had left to find their families, were each holding a pistol carefully.

Before I knew it, they had ventured outside the homebound area.

Seeing them, I used the Communication Ring.

[Mr. Jang Sung-jun.]

“Huh, yes?”

[Take these.]

Zzing—

The expressions of Jang Sung-jun’s group brightened noticeably as they received the rifle sets purchased from the store.

“This!”

Even though they were both guns, pistols and rifles were remarkably different.

Moreover, the pistols given to them were not even automatic but revolvers, which had various disadvantages in terms of reloading and firing.

So, they tried to avoid battles with monsters as much as possible and only used them when absolutely necessary.

But having a rifle changed the game.

“This is great!”

At that moment, they were spotted by a group of orcs in the distance.

“Sung-jun! The orcs spotted us!”

Jang Sung-jun shouted urgently.

“Kyung-taek, So-ra, Eun-byeol, please provide covering fire! The rest, quickly grab your rifles and load the magazines! Hurry!”

Baang—!

Following his command, gunfire echoed in the ruined city.

However, it was not actually hitting the orcs. It was just suppressive fire since the orcs were over 100 meters away, out of effective range.

Fortunately, it was threatening enough.

“Krkrrung.”

The orcs that were about to charge stopped and started to act vigilantly.

The loud sound of gunpowder evoked instinctive fear.

Perhaps they had experienced it before.

Meanwhile…

Click!

Three military-trained soldiers including Jang Sung-jun finished loading their rifles.

They aimed at the orcs with familiarity and pulled the triggers.

Bang! Bang!

At the same time, one orc’s head exploded, and two others clutched their chests and fell.

[You have hunted an Orc (Lv. 18).]

[You have gained experience.]

[1,221,005 won deposited into the Absolute Dweller’s wallet.]

The orc hit in the head died instantly, and the other two hit in the chest would soon meet the same fate.

Bang! Bang!

The calm and precise shooting continued, easily hitting the stationary targets at a distance of about 100 meters thanks to their extensive training.

“Graaaaagh!”

Half of the orc group fell with gunshot wounds in an instant.

“Chwik! Chwik!”

Realizing they were the weaker side, the orcs panicked and started to flee.

“This…!”

Watching the orcs frantically flee, the faces of Jang Sung-jun’s party were filled with hope.

“We can do this!”

“Let’s go!”

With newfound confidence, Jang Sung-jun’s party’s movements became much bolder than before.

They were also easily handling the sea monsters roaming the streets, showing a combat prowess that was far beyond what they had earlier.

‘Is this the power of rifles?’

The achievements they were making now could be achieved by any team composed of citizen soldiers, not just Jang Sung-jun.

At the same time, I could be certain.

‘The South Korean military is strong.’

Unless they were facing monsters like the Cyclops, the South Korean military would most likely be fine.

With modern weapons like tanks, fighter jets, mines, and grenades, they would not easily fall.

Apart from a few unlucky units, the military was likely in good shape.

‘Then why?’

Why weren’t they coming to rescue the citizens?

‘There must be a reason.’

I didn’t know yet.