Boom!
Jin Seong-hak, the head of the Internal Medicine Department, slammed his desk after hearing the news.
"These bastards are so arrogant…"
It was early in the morning when the head of the Pharmacy Department delivered the news.
They had offered food and lodging to Kim Jeong-gyeom's group in exchange for their compliance with the control of this place.
However, Kim Jeong-gyeom politely declined, telling them to eat their own food and sleep in their own beds. He firmly stated that they wouldn't participate in any reconnaissance activities either.
Jin Seong-hak's anger flared.
"Didn't those bastards plan to settle down here? How the hell do they plan to secure food with such reckless confidence?"
"I'm not sure… But actually, they've been distributing food to the people from the Nursing Department. It seems they're even giving small portions to the patients. And the amount isn't small."
"…What?"
His heart sank.
The ecosystem that had been carefully maintained over the past few days was now under threat.
Moreover, Jin Seong-hak had taken pride in declaring himself the king of that ecosystem.
"Where the hell are these crazy bastards getting food from…?"
But if this continued, cracks would form.
Without the monopoly on food, people wouldn't follow his orders.
The awakened ones who hadn't been brainwashed would refuse to be drafted into reconnaissance missions, and the speed at which Jin Seong-hak was gathering Mana Stones to level up would slow down.
'No, that can't happen…'
For a brief moment, a terrifying image flashed through his mind.
Before he could level up, Kim Jeong-gyeom and the other unbrainwashed awakened ones might band together and come for his head.
He quickly stood up.
"…head, where are you going?"
There was no response.
He simply rushed out of the hospital director's office, his white coat fluttering.
***
Thud, thud.
I was walking down the hospital corridor with my eldest sister.
It was because of the story she had told me last night.
"And, by the way… there's someone among the patients here who came from Euljiro."
"Euljiro?"
"Yeah, I'm not sure how he managed to cross the Han River in all this chaos, but his elderly mother is hospitalized here."
A catastrophic situation.
I wasn't the only one who had immediately thought of family.
However, the point of the story wasn't about his heartwarming family love.
Euljiro.
That was where the second of the Kim Sisters, Kim Sol, had her rented studio apartment.
Of course, even if he came from Euljiro, there was no way he would know the whereabouts of my youngest sister.
How could I expect to hear such news, given how many people lived in Seoul?
'But at the very least…'
I could find out the general situation over there.
What kind of monsters were appearing, and how people were coping with them.
But unfortunately, he wasn't in any condition to answer questions.
"He arrived here in a half-exhausted state… After receiving about a day of inpatient treatment, the next day, he had completely turned into a different person."
He was one of the awakened ones with superhuman physical abilities.
He was also one of the first to be brainwashed by the Internal Medicine Department's gang. That was exactly why my eldest sister and I were heading to his hospital room together.
[Song Hyun-gu M/47]
[Choi Young-ja W/72]
His name was Song Hyun-gu.
He shared a room with his mother, whom he had crossed the Han River to find.
The transparent window on the door.
Beyond it, I could see Song Hyun-gu sitting on a side chair and his mother lying in bed.
From the outside, there was nothing strange.
It just looked like a middle-aged man taking a break while caring for his elderly mother—nothing more, nothing less.
But still, it couldn't escape my eyes.
I sighed.
"There's no… love, no affection?"
Family love.
It manifests in many forms.
Siblings may speak to each other casually, and even a younger sibling grinning mischievously while their older sibling gets scolded falls within the realm of familial bonds and comfort.
Forgetting to buy a Melona ice cream, bickering over who gets to use the computer for an extra hour, or using various fishing techniques to make someone turn off the lights — all of these things are possible because there's comfort between them.
My eldest sister nodded in agreement with my theory on family.
"This bastard's at it again."
Family comfort.
However, I didn't sense any of that in his mother's eyes.
There was an unfamiliarity toward her child, a nervousness, and perhaps even something beyond that…
'Fear.'
That was what I could read in the eyes of Song Hyun-gu's mother.
It was clear now—47-year-old Song Hyun-gu was no longer in his right mind.
It was time to make a decision.
I could easily take down the Internal Medicine Department gang by force, but there was no guarantee that those who had been brainwashed would return to normal.
Even worse, if we had to fight the brainwashed people in the process, that would make things even more troublesome.
As I was pondering for a moment, Lee Yong-su, who had gone to distribute food to the Nursing Department, returned.
He walked slowly, pressing a hand to his forehead with a grimace on his face.
I asked.
"Yong-su, are you feeling unwell?"
"I dozed off in the waiting room. When I woke up, that Internal Medicine Department head was standing right in front of me. Ever since then, I've had this splitting headache."
It was a bad sign.
I didn't know exactly how their brainwashing worked, but if even Lee Yong-su got caught in it, the situation would become far more complicated.
There wasn't much I could do at the moment.
I replied.
"Go into the subspace. It'll be uncomfortable, but… I think you need to be confined for a while."
We didn't know what effect the brainwashing would have.
In the worst case, he might end up abandoning his wife and daughter and start following Jin Seong-hak's gang.
For now, I planned to confine him in one of the storage warehouses.
Yong-su himself was aware of the situation, so he slowly nodded.
"Yeah, that's probably for the best. I hope it's nothing serious…"
Whirr~
Just as I was about to take him through the portal,
[Blocked an unidentified energy attempt to enter from the outside.]
[Since the subspace is an independent domain of the user, external energy connections are impossible.]
At the same time, Yong-su turned to look at me with a much more relaxed expression.
He began touching various spots on his forehead and head, mimicking a mime, as if trying to confirm the pain was gone.
"…My headache is gone?"
"…What?"
We stood there for a while, staring blankly at each other like amnesiacs who had forgotten the recent events.
The truth was this:
As you know, the subspace was invincible against attacks from the outside.
But it wasn't just limited to physical attacks.
Which meant…
"It even blocks mental attacks…?"
It was possible.
.
.
.
We immediately exited the portal.
What greeted us next was…
The unfilial son, Song Hyun-gu, who had forgotten about his mother and had become nothing more than a puppet of Jin Seong-hak.
To prepare for any unforeseen circumstances, I asked PAX a question.
"Is it possible to kick someone out once they're inside the subspace?"
[Yes, it's possible.]
[You can expel them using the shipping skill.]
I had been worried that if someone was brought into the subspace and their brainwashing didn't wear off, things could get tricky. Fortunately, it had an expel function.
There's a reason why the master is the master.
Clank!
Without further hesitation, we opened the door to the hospital room wide.
"…What's this? Who are you people?"
Song Hyun-gu, his eyes hollow, stood up warily.
Feigning conversation, we slowly closed the distance between us and him.
"Nice to meet you, Song Hyun-gu ssi. You were born to be loved…"
"…?"
Whoosh!
The moment we stepped close enough, Lee Yong-su, who was inside the portal, grabbed him.
Using the same strength he had developed from moving countless delivery boxes, he yanked Song Hyun-gu in without warning. Even though Song Hyun-gu was an awakened individual, he couldn't put up a fight.
Once inside the portal, Song Hyun-gu…
"…What just happened?"
He was back to being a bewildered, innocent-looking middle-aged man.
.
.
.
As expected, he regained his feelings for his mother.
"Oh… Oh my…"
Tears streamed down Song Hyun-gu's face as he grasped his mother's hands, and she too kept stroking the face of her son, who had returned to her.
I also felt a sense of relief.
The tension that had been on her face had melted away like snow.
It wasn't an expression she could easily show, but it was certainly a look that only family could exchange.
We headed straight for the hospital lobby, where people were gathered.
There was nothing holding us back now.
We had in our hands the simplest and clearest method to cure the brainwashed awakened ones.
When we reached the main lobby, where about a hundred people were murmuring amongst themselves…
"Hey, Kim Jeong-gyeom!"
Just then, Jin Seong-hak, the head of the Internal Medicine Department, called out to me.
I turned to see his face red like a rice cooker on the verge of boiling over.
He shouted angrily as he continued.
"You should know better! Don't you understand how group living works? Where the hell did you learn such poor manners?"
It seemed he was suddenly exploding because of my refusal to participate in the reconnaissance team.
My continued distribution of food in the hospital must have also irritated him.
He spoke again.
"Let me make this short. If you don't need food or a place to stay, then get out of here right now. People like you only make things worse. Do you think everyone's happy to be on the reconnaissance team? They're all risking their lives out there…"
I interrupted before he could spout more self-righteous nonsense.
"I'll do it. The reconnaissance."
"…What?"
"But I'm not doing it with you guys. I've heard there's someone shady who's skimming off Mana Stones…"
"What the hell are you talking about…!"
It was only then that the Internal Medicine Department head seemed to realize the crowd filling the lobby.
Sure, some people knew the truth, but exposing it so openly would be uncomfortable for him as well.
"All we have to do on the reconnaissance team is bring back food, right? How about we make a bet? Let's see who brings back more—you or me."
"You think gathering food is some kind of joke?"
"There's a saying among young people. If you don't make the first the move…"
"What?"
I finished the sentence.
"You lose."
With that, I left the lobby without looking back.
.
.
.
Whoosh! Thwack!
Shriek!
I walked in front of the hospital, throwing axes at the approaching monsters.
Though I had called it a bet, it was really just an excuse.
I couldn't put an axe in his face in front of all those people.
I'd simply moved the location, knowing things might get a little rough.
I had my suspicions, after all.
He was the type to sneak around, tightening the noose on people bit by bit.
This was a prime opportunity to secretly kill me after I had left the hospital alone.
Of course, on the other hand…
'…Would he really try to kill me?'
I casually moved forward, imagining a future where no one followed me.
Sure, the world had fallen apart, but it had only been less than ten days since.
Even without laws or order, deciding to kill someone just because they were a nuisance wasn't an easy conclusion to reach.
That's why I was curious.
Just how far would these guys be willing to go?
But, as if mocking my faint hope in humanity…
Rustle.
I heard movement behind me.
I turned my head to see Jin Seong-hak, the Internal Medicine Department head, his right-hand man from the Pharmacy Department, and a group of brainwashed awakened ones slowly surrounding me.
It seemed they had gathered all the forces they could muster—at least thirty people.
Jin Seong-hak gave a faint smile and spoke.
"Hey, Kim Jeong-gyeom. You should've just behaved yourself. When you're an outsider, you need to roll with the punches. Or did our hospital seem like something you could take lightly?"
I didn't respond.
He had just given me the answer to the question I had been wondering about.
As he lazily stepped forward, he gave instructions to the Pharmacy Department head and the awakened ones.
"Get ready."
It seemed the Pharmacy Department head was an awakened one as well—his body swelled, and the other awakened individuals began manifesting their respective powers.
I nonchalantly opened a portal.
There was someone I wanted to introduce to them.
Stepping through the portal with steady steps was Song Hyun-gu.
When the Pharmacy Department head saw him, his eyes widened in shock.
"…Why are you coming out of there?"
"Fuck, how should we know! Just attack already!"
Shriek!
At Jin Seong-hak's bellowing command, the brainwashed awakened ones all charged at once.
But I had no intention of engaging them in a direct fight.
I stepped back into the portal, taking Song Hyun-gu with me.
Clang!
The awakened ones slammed into the portal, blocked from entry.
At that moment, Lee Yong-su, who had been playing with Yoo-jung inside the subspace, came running over in a hurry.
"…What's going on?"
"We've got some guests…"
Thud! Thud!
The "guests" were pounding fiercely on the portal door.
"…I'm about to let them in."
[External entities are attempting to enter.]
[Will you grant permission for entry?]
"Allow it."
Whoosh!
One by one, the awakened ones entered the subspace.
"…?"
"...?"
Within three seconds, they were blinking in confusion, like goldfish that had forgotten everything.
One of them asked, bewildered.
"…What's going on?"
Their brainwashing had been broken.