Standing before me was a man with a thin build. His brown hair was long and his eyes were narrowed into slits.
"You..."
As I saw that familiar face, something started building up inside me. Even after all this years that has passed, there was no way I would forget that face.
Kim Minhyuk.
Because of him, I had a very hard time in highschool. Because I bumped into him and got his favourite uniform strained, I became his exclusive punching bag.
Treating me like a slave, gathering Iljins to beat me up when I showed signs of resisting and harassing me on a daily basis. It was also because of him that I had no friends since they didn't want to become a victim.
The worst part of it all was that I couldn't do anything about him since he came from a rich family. If I tried to fight back, I would have gotten expelled or worse.
High school was the worst time of my life, mostly because of this guy in front of me. Maybe I should just...
The gun in my hand was slowly shifting.
[Exclusive skill, 'Black Box' has activated.]
Suddenly, all my negative thoughts faded away, and I felt a strange level of calmness. I lowered the handgun slowly.
I frowned. What the hell just happened? Hey did I suddenly have a mood swing just like that? It was unnatural.
Then I suddenly remembered. The skill 'Indifference' allowed the user to maintain rationality in all circumstances. Meaning, all unnecessary or negative emotions would be filtered out.
It was almost horrifying how my anger suddenly changed to calmness and indifference in an instant. In any case, it prevented me from doing something stupid right now.
I opened my mouth with a blank expression.
"Minhyuk? What are you doing here?"
"You know me?"
"We used to go to the same high-school together. Don't tell me you have forgotten? I was your favourite house boy."
"Hmmmm."
Minhyuk took a closer look at me and began to think. You bastard, was I easily that forgettable after you treated me like shit?
It seems he finally realised because he widened his eyes and laughed.
"Hahaha! So you're Kim Jakga. You looked very different so I couldn't recognise you."
That was true. Back in highschool, I wore glasses, a small build and my hair was messy. The typical appearance of a nerd and the best target for bullies.
But I was completely different from my nerd self in the past.
Due to accident, my hair has grown longer and I'm taller compared to back then. It was no surprise he wouldn't be able to recognise me from a single glance.
"So how have you been doing all this well? How long has it been? Three years."
"Don't talk like we're friends."
"C'mon now, are you still holding a grudge?"
Yes, I'm still holding a grudge. For that matter, I will hold a grudge until I die, you bastard. No, Let's calm down.
"My personal feelings doesn't matter. Are you the leader of these kids?"
"How do they look like kids?"
"Answer the question."
"Yes, I'm the leader here."
"Then explain why you're collecting coins from these people?"
In response, Minhyuk just shrugged his shoulders as if it was no big deal.
"It's very simple. Tell me Suwon, do you think anything is free in this world?"
"Excuse me?"
I tilted my head and raised an eyebrow.
"Even after the world fell into destruction, nothing is free in this world. Food is scarce and a new currency called Coins has replaced Yen."
"What are you trying to say?"
"What I'm saying that even though this is a lawless world, it doesn't mean the laws of the old world has completely disappeared. The strong and the weak. These two fundamental concepts remains the same even when the world's destruction is near."
"..."
"This is a lawless world. A world without laws and morals. If you want to survive in such a world then you need to be cruel. It's an unavoidable situation."
Minhyuk looked at the trembling people and smiled slightly. Those were the people who could not adapt to the new world.
Then he looked at me and spoke.
"If everybody entered for free, the safe zone will be crowded and there will be no food to go around. So I made a choice. I made this place my property and made the willing pay rent and kicked the unwilling."
"So you became a landlord?"
"Correct. As long as you stay here, you must pay rent. That way, resources can go around and everyone can survive. Isn't that an happy ending?"
Happy ending? What a joke.
"What about the people that you kicked out of the safe zone? What happened to them?"
"Oh, that..."
Minhyuk did not answer immediately. It was obvious what had happened to them.
I turned and looked at the faces of the survivors who wore sad expressions.
Those were kicked out of the safe zone became food for the monsters outside. While those unfortunate people were kicked out of the safe zone, these people watched without lifting a finger to help.
But it couldn't be helped. They couldn't have helped even if they wanted to.
Why? They were weak. They could barely save themselves so how were they expected to help another person.
I'm sure that was what they were thinking right now. This case wasn't that different from bullying.
There are three main parties involved in bullying. The bullies, the victim and the spectators.
The bullies treated their victims like shit while the spectators watched without lifting a finger. Why? The reason was simple. People were cowards especially when they lacked strength.
If they decided to help the victim then they will become the target of bullying. Therefore, they have no choice but to silently watch. It was a story I have already experienced before.
Being weak was not a sin, that I could understand. But choosing to stay weak was an unforgivable sin. Unlike the old world, anyone can become strong in the new world. Women, children and even grandpas and grandmas were no exception.
The fact that they silently watched as those people were sentenced to their death proved that they were nothing but murderers. But who am I to judge, really.
This is not the cruelty of the world. It was the cruelty of humans.
Let me think for a little. Sure, what Minhyuk did was nothing but an act of cruelty. However, it was a logical decision. It was impossible to feed one thousand people especially when food was scarce.
So kicking a few useless people will help to perceive resources for the remaining survivors. But it is not like he heartlessly kicked out those people. By bringing in the concept of rent, he gave them a surviving chance.
All the survivors needed to do was hunt a few monsters and gather coins, then they will be able to enter the safe zone. Like this, dead weights can become a little bit useful in real time.
In the end, both parties can benefit from this. The mainframe group collect rent on a daily basis and the survivors can become stronger.
It was a good yet cruel strategy. In other words, it was wrong to call them complete villains. But it was also wrong to call them heroes too. Therefore, there was no need to eliminate them.
'I'm not planning on staying for long anyways.'
Besides, 500 coins was a huge amount to ordinary people. But I couldn't be called an ordinary person.
Once I reached the conclusion of that reasoning, I finally made my decision and opened my mouth.
"Minhyuk."
"Hmm?"
"I will pay the rent."
****
After paying the rent for the day, Minhyuk and his minions went away somewhere. I could have simply failed to pay the rent but I wouldn't be able to handle the aftermath.
The people that paid the rent will feel cheated and throw a tantrum. There was nothing more annoying than an angry mob. So that was the best decision.
In the meantime, I was listening about the situation of the safe zone. Lee Jong-ho was the main provider of the information.
"I see. So the initial number of the safe zone was around 500."
"Yes. When the horde arrived, only those close to the safe zone survived. The rest were not so lucky."
"It's less than I thought."
The sector center was the most populated part of Hongdae. For only 500 people to survive, that would mean the casualties were more greater than I expected.
'The survivors were probably those who stayed indoors and rushed to the safe zone. The rest probably didn't know about the safe zone or realised the gravity of the situation too late.'
No other place apart from the safe zone was safe during the second scenario. Those who continued to stay indoors would have died from the monster horde.
In the end, lack of information was the problem.
"Then what's the situation here?"
"There are two main groups in the safe zone. To be honest, it's just the Mainframe group and everybody else. But I'm sure you already knew that."
"Yeah, I already figured."
We both looked at the people walking around with pipes and other weaponry with a dark expression.
'Well, this is already expected.'
The summary of the situation was like this. The people in charge were the Mainframe group who were led and organised by Kim Minhyuk.
And the rest of the survivors were the tenants who paid the landlord rent to stay in the safe zone. They were the people who wanted to acquire a safe spot from the monsters.
"Food distribution is determined by the mainframe group. All the convenience stores and fast-food restaurants in the area have already been robbed so food supply is very limited."
"I see."
"That was why Kim Minhyuk recruited some of the survivors to join as food scouts to go into deeper territory in search of food. But..."
"They never returned."
"That's right. It has been 15 hours already but there have been no sign of the survivors even those from the mainframe group."
"Hmm."
This is an interesting development. There are two things that could have happened to them.
One, they were ambushed another group of survivors and got killed as a result. Two, they were killed by monsters.
The former was highly likely because even if they were ambushed by monsters, at least of one of them would have survived to tell the tale.
Wait, could it be they were ambushed by a monster with a danger rating of grade 7? If that was the case then it will explain everything.
I looked at Lee Jong-ho who had a sad expression. I placed a hand on his shoulder. His muscles were harder than I expected. His strength stats must have already exceeded 10.
"Huh? Wh-What?"
"Jongho-ssi, you don't have to feel disheartened."
"Even if you say that, this is all wrong. The death, the tragedies. When does it end? Why did this all happen?"
"That is true. I don't know the reason myself but I guess we just happened to be unlucky."
It looks like we entering some deep territory now. I have to cheer him before a seed of darkness forms in his heart.
"Well, since this is our current situation then we have to do our best to survive, right?"
I smiled at him. It was not enough to completely calm his heart but it was enough to impress his mood.
"Thank you, Jakga-ssi."
It seems that was enough to motivate him. In the end, Lee Jongho was Lee Jongho.
... Ah! That remains me.
Turning my head, I saw Angelica and Jung Yunhee sitting at a corner and keeping to themselves. They seemed rather depressed. Shouldn't I go and greet them?
I slowly approached them with the plastic bags in hand.