CHAPTER 44

Busan Station (4)

"Fifty people growing up in the same household? Do you think we're chickens or something?"

"It's just temporary for now…"

"Temporary? What kind of nonsense is that? I saw plenty of empty houses earlier! I checked them all out myself, so what are you talking about?"

A crowd of people had gathered, putting Kim Da-bin in a difficult position.

Each of them voiced their complaints one by one.

"At the very least, shouldn't you make sure there's a proper place for everyone to sleep? The kids need to rest comfortably."

"Come on, just give us a few empty rooms. We'll only use them to sleep."

"I'm sorry, but according to our principles—"

Seeing this unfold, I immediately took action.

I passed by Seo Ye-jin, who was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the living room, and reached for the doorknob of the master bedroom, where Yoo Hye-rin was sleeping. I headed there instead of the front door for a reason—to use a new skill I had gained from leveling up.

Domain Sovereign's Door Lv.1

Allows the user to connect doors within the declared domain.

It was a skill I had acquired upon reaching level 20.

'To the 21st floor.'

As I opened the door to the bedroom, instead of seeing Yoo Hye-rin sleeping inside, the view of the 21st floor appeared before me.

"You're squatting in someone else's house without permission anyway! In an emergency like this, we should help each other out. Who do you think you are, acting so entitled?"

One person had crossed the line, now yelling at the top of their lungs.

I turned to them and spoke.

"I'm the one squatting in this house without permission."

The entire group, which had been protesting to Kim Da-bin, turned their attention to me. I stared directly at the man who had been raising his voice at Kim Da-bin and said,

"I'm sorry, but if you have a problem with the policies I put in place, would you kindly leave my house?"

"What? A kid like you dares to—!"

There was no need for further discussion.

'Expel, Seong Yoon-sik.'

The man who had been threatening Kim Da-bin was immediately expelled.

At that moment—

[Citizen Seong Yoon-sik has been expelled from the Domain Sovereign's territory.]

Shwoosh—

His body disappeared.

He had been forcefully ejected outside the domain.

Expulsion was a fairly civil process—it simply relocated the person beyond the domain's borders.

There was no risk of injury or immediate danger during the ejection.

Of course, given the time of night, surviving outside the domain was another matter entirely.

'Sovereign's Eye.'

Just in case, I checked to make sure he hadn't been sent into a monster-infested area. Fortunately, the alleyway he landed in was empty, aside from the darkness and himself.

He reached out awkwardly, touching an invisible barrier.

[Unauthorized individual attempting entry.]

"Uh, hello?"

His trembling voice echoed down the alleyway, empty and hollow.

"Is… is anyone there? Hello—!"

After confirming his predicament, I turned back to the others and asked,

"Anyone else have complaints?"

A heavy silence fell over the group.

I met the eyes of each person, one by one, before speaking again.

"Effective immediately, I will be cutting off the electricity, water, and gas supply to the unit you are occupying."

"What?"

"Wait, you can't do that!"

"That's ridiculous!"

I looked directly at the ones who voiced their objections and replied,

"Actually, I'd like to ask you—what exactly do you think you're doing here?"

It wasn't like I wanted to cram all these people into one place.

"Let me ask you—why did you come here in the first place?"

"The fact that you showed up right after we took down the giant—was that just a coincidence?"

A total of 157 people.

Compared to other survivors, they had plenty of food and water.

That made sense—gathering that many people in one place required a solid supply of resources.

There were no Awakened among them, but they clearly didn't lack necessities.

And yet, they had come here.

The reason was obvious.

"You came here because you saw that we had the power to defeat a giant monster. You thought this place was reliable, didn't you? You wanted protection."

The event had been quite the spectacle, after all.

The reason people in the area were flocking to this place was that the battle with the giant had served as a kind of publicity.

"There are hundreds of people coming here every day with thoughts similar to yours. Do you understand what I mean?"

The moment their demands were accepted, three problems would immediately arise.

First, available rooms would be used up at a rapid pace, eventually making it impossible to accommodate new arrivals or forcing them to sleep on the streets.

Second, the existing citizens would become dissatisfied.

And lastly, once granted a favor, they would keep making endless demands.

"I'll make this clear now."

The tyranny of the powerful.

Honestly, I could see how some might view it that way.

But that didn't mean I had any desire to try and understand their perspective.

Why should I? My position was far better than theirs.

"The basic rights and welfare you seek do not exist here. Look at the world around you. The South Korean government has already collapsed, and I am not its representative."

The current world was far too cruel for such romantic ideals.

"If you want to enjoy rights, then first, acquire the qualifications to deserve them."

Frankly, it wasn't a good look.

Other survivors were doing their best to adapt to the harsh conditions in their own ways.

They split their sleeping shifts into three rotations to maximize the use of shared spaces. They sought advice from those who had already adjusted to life here. Some even paid the original residents for a place to stay.

People were adapting in various ways.

Even in discomfort, many prioritized children and the vulnerable, choosing to survive together.

But these people—rather than finding a way—they simply demanded.

Begging while being full.

It was only natural that they would be compared to others.

"Return to your assigned lodgings immediately. Unless you want to lose even more."

As soon as I finished speaking, the people lowered their heads and began to shuffle away in defeat.

[Citizen Kim Dabin's trust level has increased significantly.]

Watching the scene, Kim Dabin let out a sigh and spoke.

"Thank you, Jaehyun. You saved me."

I smiled and used the Ring of Communication on her.

[No need to thank me. It's just what I had to do.]

"Huh?"

[If anything, I should be the one thanking you.]

Kim Dabin tilted her head with a puzzled expression.

She must have been confused since she could hear my voice even though I wasn't speaking aloud.

I continued using the Ring of Communication on her.

[Surprised?]

"Ah, y-yes."

[You'll probably be able to do something similar too, Dabin.]

"What? Me?"

You know telepathy, right? Try thinking of the person you want to communicate with and speaking inwardly as if you were talking to them.

At that moment.

[Like… like this?]

Kim Dabin successfully used telepathy.

[Well done. You'll learn the exact conditions and limitations of its use as you continue practicing.]

[Th-Thank you!]

It felt a bit strange to have a conversation using only telepathy, even though the other person was right in front of me.

Just then—

"Um, excuse me…"

I turned around to see a middle-aged man with a bald head pacing anxiously.

Looking closely, I realized he was one of the people who had gathered earlier.

"Do you still have something to say?"

As I spoke firmly, the man hesitated before stammering out his words.

"I… I know this is shameless of me, but… the friend who was just expelled… Could you give him one more chance?"

I looked straight at the man, who was speaking cautiously, and replied,

"Why should I?"

"It's true that Yoon-sik was the loudest, but it wasn't just his opinion—it was everyone's. It was essentially all of our responsibility, and I don't think he should have to take all the blame alone. If you must punish us, we'll accept it. So please… just this once, have mercy…"

Expelling Sung Yoon-sik had been a harsh decision.

Being cast out alone at this point was practically a death sentence.

'I was already considering taking him back anyway.'

[An unauthorized individual is attempting to enter.]

Fortunately, Sung Yoon-sik hadn't gone far—he was still knocking persistently at the door.

The only difference was that he was now sobbing miserably, tears and snot streaming down his face.

I reached out my hand toward the bald man in front of me and spoke.

"My name is Kim Jaehyun."

"I'm Han Kyunghoon."

After a brief handshake with Han Kyunghoon, I asked,

"Let me ask you—are you here as a representative of your group?"

"Huh?"

"I'm asking whether the others agree with what you just said. That everyone is willing to share the consequences if Sung Yoon-sik is allowed back."

"Y-Yes. We all decided together."

I had already been wondering when the right time to take Sung Yoon-sik back would be. I couldn't justify taking a life just to set an example.

Since they were the ones to bow their heads first, I was actually grateful.

Plus, this helped soften the somewhat harsh image I had created.

'Yeah… If they want to survive, this level of solidarity is necessary.'

They were a group of people who had formed a large community without any Awakened individuals.

The fact that they had survived in this world and built such a group was, in itself, proof of their capabilities.

There were surely some useful aspects to them.

"Alright. I will reinstate Seong Yoonsik's citizenship. Also, we will supply electricity and water to the public facilities you use, excluding gas."

"Is that… really true?"

"I'm making an exception this one time because of the camaraderie you've shown."

"Th-Thank you! Thank you so much!"

[Citizen Han Kyunghoon's trust level has greatly increased.]

Thinking of the children in this group, I did feel tempted to provide gas as well, but if I did that, it wouldn't really be a punishment.

At the very least, they should experience the hardship of showering in cold water and sleeping on floors without heating.

'They have electric blankets, so the kids should be able to stay warm on their own!'

After Han Kyunghoon left, Kim Dabin reached out to me through telepathy.

[Rehyeon-nim, you really are a warm-hearted person.]

I responded using the Ring of Communication.

[Me?]

[Yes.]

That was strange.

I didn't think there was anything in our conversation just now that would make me seem warm-hearted.

[Thank you for seeing me in a good light.]

Could this be a kind of bias, like seeing someone through rose-colored glasses?

Looking at Kim Dabin's warm gaze, I spoke.

"Regarding the communal facilities currently set up in three buildings, I'm considering installing one in all 25 buildings."

"All 25 buildings?"

"Yes."

At that moment, I had the illusion that the dark circles under Kim Dabin's eyes deepened.

"How many team members did you say you had again?"

"Including Hyerin and Hyungjun, there are 15 of us in total."

"Could you expand that to 100 members to manage the facilities? With four people per building, that should be enough."

The moment I said that, Kim Dabin's eyes widened in shock.

"A h-hundred people?"

"Yes. I'll pay each of them 100,000 won per day."

A smile spread across her face.

It was the smile of capitalism.

"At that scale, I think we could run things smoothly. Plus, my influence would grow stronger as well."

Just then—

[21st floor.]

[The doors are opening.]

Two men and one woman stepped out of the elevator and approached us.

One of the men came forward and spoke to Kim Dabin.

"Hello."

"What brings you here?"

"Would you happen to need a medical team?"

"A medical team?"

The man introduced himself with a voice full of confidence.

"I'm Lee Seongmin, Associate Professor of Nephrology at Busan Baek Hospital."

As more people began gathering, talented individuals of a different kind also started to appear one by one.

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