NOVEL WEB Chapter 10 - Vanguard (2)
Chapter 10. Vanguard (2)
The Blue Team made the first move.
They had struck preemptively.
It seemed their team also had a leader who quickly adapted and gathered the people.
However, they only planned for the first move and didn’t think about the second.
If they acted first to gather information, we could, in turn, extract information from them.
The man who introduced himself as the branch manager surveyed the area on the seventh floor.
Then, he turned to the man standing behind him and said,
“What are you doing? Start handing it out.”
“Yes, branch manager.”
The man greeted Kim Dong-gil politely and quickly instructed others to distribute food.
Several people, who seemed to be mall employees, began taking food out of the baskets.
The food was high-quality.
Bread, fruits, steak, udon, ramen, tempura, bottled water, and even packaged sushi.
It was food from the mall’s restaurants.
The quality was on a completely different level from ordinary food.
The sweet aroma filled the store, making everyone momentarily forget the stench of blood.
People, entranced by the smell of food, raised their heads.
Kim Dong-gil kept smiling as he addressed the crowd.
“You must be hungry, right? Please eat first. We also have water. Take your time and help yourselves.”
Clatter—! Splash…
At that moment, Kim Dong-gil tipped over a nearby bucket.
“Oh, my.”
He wore an expression of clumsy mistake, but it was obvious it was no accident.
The carefully fetched water was now mixed with blood, making it undrinkable.
I immediately checked the status window.
[Water Supply: 3 -> 2]
The resource updates were impressively fast.
The staff began picking up bottles of water and handing them out to people.
But the Red Team’s members were hesitant to accept the water they were offered.
Even our people had a sense of caution.
In a game where it only ended with the opponent’s death, one couldn’t simply accept food from the “enemy.”
However, humans are inherently weak in the face of desire.
Sniff, sniff.
The tantalizing smell of food wafted into my nose.
I wasn’t even hungry, but smelling the food made me feel starving.
Even I wavered slightly under the temptation.
Ordinary people would struggle to resist.
“Are you sure… this is okay to eat?”
As a few individuals, drawn by the food, took hesitant steps forward,
Kim Dong-gil smiled and reeled in the bait he had laid out.
“Of course. Take as much as you want.”
“Oh… th-thank you!”
“Thank you…!”
People scrambled to grab the food.
Even those who had been inside the barricade joined the queue, eager to get their share of water and food.
Soon, a long line formed in front of the baskets.
Kim Dong-gil continued distributing food to the people.
I pointed at Kim Dong-gil and asked Jin Jae-hee,
“Is that man their king?”
If he was the Blue Team’s king, I would pull out a gun at midnight and kill him right here.
That was the fastest way to end the game.
But Jin Jae-hee shook her head.
“I don’t know. Back in my previous life, I started in the area around Gyeongnam.”
In conclusion, while the rules of the League were officially the same across regions, the events that unfolded varied by location.
It seemed wise to have a conversation with him.
After all, if they were here to gather information, we had to do the same.
I took a step forward.
Grab—.
Jin Jae-hee caught my wrist.
“You can’t expose yourself. It’s obvious they’re scouts. Let me go. You don’t need to waste your strength on this. If you want, I can kill them all for you.”
Jae-hee stepped forward, leaving me behind.
But I grabbed her again.
She turned back, looking a little startled, and I spoke calmly.
“That’s why I’m going.”
“….”
Leaving her behind, I walked forward.
“Take your time. There’s plenty of food for everyone.”
Dong-gil interacted warmly with the people.
And as he looked around, he thought to himself.
“A barricade, huh.”
Monsters swarming in, strangers, darkness—and yet, they managed to come together and create a makeshift barricade.
This meant that the Red Team also had a capable leader.
“It won’t be as easy as I thought.”
Before coming to the seventh floor, Kim Dong-gil had been confident of victory.
The Blue Team had control of the food supply, and they had the advantage in both population and location.
Kim Dong-gil had swiftly united the Blue Team, gathering people around himself and his staff.
If they launched an attack as soon as the clock struck midnight, they could overpower the Red Team without much resistance.
But.
There was always a possibility.
If the Red Team had something this side couldn’t counter, the situation could turn unfavorable.
Kim Dong-gil had come to confirm that possibility.
Whether they had that “something” or not.
As Kim Dong-gil glanced around, a man appeared in his field of vision.
It was Kang Sion.
Kim Dong-gil shifted his attention from the surroundings to focus on Sion.
Eyes devoid of life.
Eyes without emotion or a trace of sympathy.
Step, step.
His footsteps lacked strength.
Though it was his first time meeting this man, Kim Dong-gil felt a sudden chill.
It was an overwhelming sense of murderous intent.
“Why did you come down?”
The first words out of Sion’s mouth were unexpected.
He skipped any form of greeting or preamble and got straight to the point.
Kim Dong-gil sneered internally.
“So, he’s not interested in wasting time.”
Whether Kang Sion was the “king” of the Red Team or not,
one thing was certain: he was one of their strongest assets.
Kim Dong-gil had a knack for judging such things.
It was that skill that had helped him climb the ranks in his company so quickly.
“Haha.”
Dong-gil forced a laugh.
Whenever he faced a difficult opponent, he always began with a smile.
“I came to share food with you all, of course. Isn’t it important to survive together in this disaster?”
“You didn’t miss the explanation of the round, did you?”
Of course, even if he tried to steer the conversation elsewhere, it wouldn’t work on Kang Sion.
Dong-gil feigned a flustered expression and waved his hand dismissively.
It was a calculated act.
“No, no! Not at all! Student, don’t say such dangerous things.”
Kim Dong-gil adamantly denied Sion’s words.
Then, he calmly continued,
“We absolutely refuse to follow that insane game. Killing each other? Why would we trust those monsters? We’ve decided to ignore such nonsense. How about it? Why don’t you join us? Surely, there must be a way to escape this building together!”
Kim Dong-gil pleaded earnestly.
Now, how would they respond?
As he pondered this, he darted his eyes around, observing the Red Team.
The people from the Red Team were eating food while watching him closely.
Kim Dong-gil’s speech was a declaration of justice.
A clear statement that he had no intention of following this twisted game.
And a call for unity to endure this calamity together.
To ordinary people, rejecting such a proposal would be unthinkable.
Decent citizens needed a corresponding sense of justice.
And when the person offering that justice also provided food, the trust factor multiplied.
“Ah, perfect.”
Kim Dong-gil was a master of persuasion.
He understood human emotions and how to manipulate them to his advantage.
It was a skill honed over 20 years of corporate life.
His plan was to win over the Red Team members and launch a surprise attack the moment midnight struck.
The best opportunity was when the enemy let their guard down.
But Kim Dong-gil underestimated one thing.
The Red Team already understood.
That if they didn’t follow the rules of the game, there was only death.
And that was why Kim Dong-gil’s strategy would fail.
“…Huh? Huh?”
By now, they should have agreed with him.
As he noticed the Red Team members remaining unmoved, Kim Dong-gil grew uneasy.
Then, Sion stepped closer and spoke to him.
“Cooperate?”
“….”
The air grew heavy at Sion’s single remark.
Sion spoke.
“Then let’s do it this way. All the members of the Blue Team join the Red Team. According to the rulebook, as long as the king agrees, team changes are allowed at any time. And bring your king to me. If I kill just your king, only one person dies, and this game ends. Our cooperation is only possible on that condition. How about it? Can you do that?”
“Ah.”
Dong-gil was at a loss for words, unable to process how the situation had been overturned in an instant.
He couldn’t bring himself to speak.
Sion’s words were undeniably correct.
Ultimately, if two out of the three kings were killed, there was no reason for the other ordinary “citizens” to die.
Sion had figured that out first and swung it like a counterpunch at Dong-gil.
In doing so, Dong-gil had essentially been outsmarted by his own tactics.
All because of Sion’s one remark.
Kim Dong-gil raised one eyebrow.
‘What… what is this guy?’
It was the first time Kim Dong-gil had encountered someone like him.
This wasn’t an act.
Calmness in a situation like this.
And the trustful gazes from the people standing behind him.
This man was a monster.
Now Dong-gil resorted to pleading.
“No! We don’t want any violence. There’s no reason for us to follow the rules set by those creatures, right? Isn’t that so?”
He repeated what he had said earlier.
It was like a child throwing a tantrum.
Kim Dong-gil looked around, trying to gain agreement from others.
But not a single person on the Red Team sided with him.
“Ah, come on, student. Let’s work together, just for now. The police will come soon. Until then, let’s just cooperate.”
Dong-gil extended his hand to Sion.
Smack—!
But Sion coldly slapped Dong-gil’s hand away.
Sion spoke to him.
“There won’t be a next time. If you come like this again without warning, all of you will die.”
“…….”
The men from the Blue Team, who had been distributing food, froze in place.
Kim Dong-gil stared blankly at Sion and shoved his hands into his pockets.
There was no longer a need for pretense.
His usual tactics had no effect on this man.
Kim Dong-gil admitted defeat.
For now, that is.
“Fine. I get it.”
Kim Dong-gil’s tone suddenly changed.
He pulled a cigarette from the pocket of his jacket and lit it.
Hoo—.
Kim Dong-gil blew smoke directly into Kang Sion’s face.
Then he started coughing violently.
“Cough…! Cough!”
The truth was, Kim Dong-gil didn’t even know how to smoke properly.
It was nothing but a bluff.
Something he did to intimidate or belittle his subordinates.
“Ahem… but let me tell you something. Do you think you can get away with doing this in our store? I’m the branch manager of this place.”
Kim Dong-gil was referring to the barricade.
Disaster was disaster, but property was still property.
That was Kim Dong-gil’s logic.
He exhaled another puff of smoke.
“Cough! Cough…! Ahem! Spit…! Phew… what do you think? If we take this to court later….”
Kim Dong-gil scanned Kang Sion from head to toe with his eyes.
It was the attire of a day laborer.
Kim Dong-gil chuckled and finished his sentence.
“…It would be an amount you couldn’t pay off in your lifetime. What should we do about that?”
Hahaha.
Dong-gil let out a laugh.
Hahahahaha….
The vanguard of the Blue Team awkwardly joined in his laughter.
But even in this situation, Sion remained unfazed.
Sion thought to himself.
This man in front of him is dumber than he thought.
“Do as you like.”
Kim Dong-gil still believed that the world operated under laws and regulations, with the police maintaining order.
He thought this cursed game was confined to this building.
There was no point in continuing the conversation with such a fool.
Sion let out a short sigh, as if he had lost interest.
Watching this, Kim Dong-gil’s expression soured noticeably.
And finally, Dong-gil revealed his true nature.
“You cocky brat… how old are you? Do you know who I am? Seems like you don’t understand the situation….”
Was he trying to switch to thug mode now?
Sigh—.
Sion let out another sigh and glanced at his wristwatch.
It was a cheap, 5,000-won digital watch.
11:55 PM.
Five minutes until midnight.
“Starting at midnight, attacks are allowed, right?”
“…!”
Dong-gil hurriedly checked his own wristwatch in a panic.
It was a 20 million-won luxury timepiece.
After confirming the time, Dong-gil looked around.
The members of the Red Team were now holding mop handles and glaring at them.
And then Sion delivered the final blow.
Tap.
The two men were standing at a fairly close distance, and even if Sion pulled something out from below, Dong-gil wouldn’t notice.
Dong-gil trembled slightly and looked down at the object pressed against his abdomen.
It was the muzzle of a gun.
‘A… a… gun….’
The Red Team had a gun.
The shape of the gun filled Dong-gil’s entire field of vision.
He began to shake uncontrollably.
Sion spoke as he watched him.
“Get out. If you come back like this again, I’ll kill you next time.”
It was a threat backed by evidence.
It was a threat supported by power.
Before that gun, Kim Dong-gil appeared utterly pathetic.
Grit—.
Kim Dong-gil ground his teeth.
In his entire life, he had never experienced such humiliation.
He had been verbally defeated by a mere day laborer.
He was the branch manager of a shopping mall, earning 400 million won annually, driving a luxury sports car, and living in a Gangnam apartment.
He was a successful man in society, yet he had been humbled by a day laborer making 120,000 won a day.
‘Damn it. This is unfair.’
Kim Dong-gil was furious to the point of bursting but couldn’t express it.
He had no choice.
There wasn’t enough time, and the Blue Team had far fewer members compared to the Red Team.
Kim Dong-gil clenched his fists and turned around.
“Let’s go.”
“B-branch manager…?”
“Don’t say a word and just follow me!”
“Y-yes… yes….”
Step, step.
Kim Dong-gil walked toward the escalator.
At that moment, Sion taunted him.
“Oh, right. Thanks for the food.”
The food brought by the Blue Team would now replenish the Red Team’s energy.
Kim Dong-gil angrily threw the cigarette he had been holding onto the ground and began climbing the escalator.
Only then did Sion’s expression relax.
The barricade.
Unity.
And the gun.
Now, the Blue Team wouldn’t dare to attack recklessly.
Sion turned around and headed back toward the barricade.
‘Alright, we’ve bought some time. Now, what should we do next?’
He had gained time.
At least a day, maybe two.
They needed to prepare for the Blue Team’s eventual attack.
And soon, a plan formed in Sion’s mind.
Sion called out to her.
“Jin Jae-hee.”