With Cha Hyun-seung's addition to the group, the pace of survivor rescues accelerated significantly.
Hundreds of beasts moved in perfect coordination, and each of them was far stronger than the average monster, making a huge difference in their operations.
Excluding the retainers, only about 300 citizens were directly participating in the Seoul reclamation mission.
This was the result of strictly selecting only the top-tier forces—those who had reached at least level 30.
The number of citizens who t this requirent was incredibly low.
In total, only about 0.3% of the entire population—approximately 1,700 people—had reached level 30.
And among them, only the top 300 had been selected to take part in the rescue operation, highlighting just how dangerous Seoul truly was.
‘Monsters over level 30 are as common as pebbles on the street.’
So were even fully covered in iron armor, while others were immune to physical attacks, making them impervious to gunfire.
One wrong move, and death was inevitable.
Naturally, caution was necessary.
Seo Ye-jin’s mice were used to scout for nearby dangers and survivors, allowing them to set the safest possible route before proceeding.
Yu Han-gil’s clairvoyance ability was deployed in real-ti to identify threats, while Kim Jae-hyun coordinated the movents of his retainers accordingly.
To prepare for ergency situations, they even relied on Shin Dong-hoon's ti distortion ability.
Even if it only lasted a few seconds, the ability to turn back ti proved incredibly effective in preventing fatal situations.
Yet, despite these precautions, there were still casualties—people suffering serious injuries or even dying in the field.
This was why Cha Hyun-seung’s beast army was nothing short of revolutionary.
Not only were they all exceptionally high-level, but their diverse species and unique characteristics allowed for adaptive strategies in various situations.
However, the most important factor was that Cha Hyun-seung was well-known in the area.
When they found survivor groups, convincing them to leave their hideouts was always a difficult task.
But with Cha Hyun-seung himself leading the rescue efforts, the situation changed completely.
Survivors who had been too terrified of monsters to show themselves began stepping forward voluntarily.
The impact of this change was greater than expected.
‘Thanks to that, we’ve managed to absorb most of the scattered small-scale survivor groups nearby.’
The territory radius of 3km centered around Sindorim Station had now been fully incorporated.
More than 30,000 people had been settled within the Viscount’s Territory, governed by Ha Dong-geon.
And then, at that very mont—
[‘Count’s Territory’ construction has been completed.]
Finally, the 5km territory centered around Seoul Station was complete.
The mont the territory was fully established, Oh Eon-ju collapsed from exhaustion.
Kim Da-jeong, who had been standing nearby, imdiately caught her.
Wuum—
A warm, healing light enveloped Oh Eon-ju, restoring her condition.
[Please take care of Oh Eon-ju.]
“Yes, Jae-hyun-nim. Leave her to .”
A 5km-wide territory centered on Seoul Station.
In essence, they had now completely secured the heart of northern Seoul.
‘Now cos the real challenge.’
The first phase of reclaiming Seoul was to create a large-scale movent.
Seoul and Gyeonggi Province together accounted for half the population of South Korea.
Within that, Seoul alone had about 10 million residents—three tis the population of Busan.
Even assuming a low survival rate due to the high-level monsters roaming the city, there were still countless survivors out there.
It was logistically impossible to rescue all of them with their current manpower.
This was where Kim Da-bin’s strategy ca into play—leveraging word-of-mouth.
The sa approach had already proven highly successful in Busan.
As many new citizens were joining Seoul, Busan was also seeing an influx of survivors.
And this was all thanks to Kim Da-bin’s "Giving Tree" project.
The core of the project was surprisingly simple.
Newly absorbed survivors—who had no idea what was going on—were given full-scale support from the start.
Food, dical aid, electricity, gas, and clean water were freely provided.
They were also given access to shops, welfare facilities, and had the entire trading system explained to them by Kim Da-bin and her administrative team.
Additionally, hunting teams were actively dispatched to exterminate monsters outside the safe zone.
And then—sothing incredible happened.
The survivors who benefited from this spread the word.
Before long, the influx of new citizens, which had previously stagnated, skyrocketed.
People from **Gimhae, Yangsan, Gijang, and Gadeokdo—**who had been hiding for survival—began moving toward Busan in droves.
The rumor of "Paradise in Busan" had given hope to those struggling to survive.
So much so that they were willing to risk their lives traveling there.
‘Now, we do the sa thing in Seoul.’
All available earth golems—except for the ten assigned to the Job Research Institute—were deployed to rebuild the area around Sindorim Station.
And unlike in Busan, where instant dungeons were built inside territories, in Seoul, they took a different approach.
Instead, they provided maximum support—firearms, ammunition, and supplies—to those willing to hunt.
‘As a result, more and more new citizens are choosing to hunt monsters themselves.’
After all, Seoul was a monster-infested warzone.
No matter how many monsters they killed, goblins, orcs, and other creatures kept appearing in swarms.
As new survivors began actively hunting, word of mouth would spread.
And—
‘The major survivor factions have already been inford.’
According to Commander Lee Hak-gi, there were seven large survivor factions in Seoul.
Three of them had already been successfully absorbed:
JHS (a cult-like group)
The military faction
Cha Hyun-seung’s forces in Yongsan
The remaining factions were located in Apgujeong, Seocho, Gangseo, and Gangbuk.
‘A significant number of people from Apgujeong, Seocho, and Gangseo are already defecting to our side.’
Even back when Konkuk University Outpost was their only foothold, survivors from those areas had started trickling in.
‘Of course, quite a few of them turned out to be spies…’
But that was exactly what Kim Jae-hyun had hoped for.
‘Most of those spies have already reached a trust level over 50.’
All he had done was show them the reality of his forces.
Those who witnessed Busan’s success with their own eyes were now returning to their factions, eager to bring more people with them.
‘Now, it’s about ti we start seeing results.’
At that mont—
A familiar notification rang out.
[An entity eting the conditions for citizenship has been detected.]
[Would you like to grant citizenship?]
This notification always appeared when outsiders arrived at the transparent barrier.
And by now, he could pinpoint exactly where the visitors were.
‘Seoul Station’s territory.’
Soone had arrived at the Count’s Territory, where Oh Eon-ju was in charge.
A group of thousands was approaching from Hannam Bridge.
Among them—
‘Bingo.’
Among the approaching group, there was one particular face I had been waiting for.
‘Right on ti.’
『Jung Sora (Lv. 49)』
Awakening Ability: Blessing of the Four Great Spirits
Another SR-ranked ability user.
She possessed the power to command the four elental spirits—fire, water, wind, and earth.
She was also the leader representing Apgujeong.
Shush—
I teleported to the edge of the Hannam Bridge territory and greeted her with a smile.
"Welco, Ms. Jung Sora."
Jung Sora smiled back and responded.
"You must be Kim Jae-hyun?"
"That’s right."
At that mont—
"Sora-nim!"
"Huh?!"
Voices of shock erupted from Jung Sora’s faction.
Because she had suddenly knelt before .
“P-Please rise!”
“We ca here to talk as equals!”
Despite their frantic attempts to dissuade her, Jung Sora gently reassured them.
"Stay still, all of you."
“……”
Just a single sentence.
But its effect was absolute.
The high-ranking mbers near her imdiately followed suit, kneeling down as well.
Then, like dominoes, the rest of her group began kneeling one by one.
Just from that alone, I could gauge the extent of Jung Sora’s influence.
She waited until everyone had properly knelt before bowing her head and speaking.
"Please accept us."
It was like having a golden pumpkin roll straight into my lap.
"Welco."
Not everyone reacted to Kim Jae-hyun’s expansion the sa way.
"Damn it!"
Seocho-dong.
A man who had ruled like a king using his imnse power stomped his foot in frustration.
Kugugugung!
The concrete beneath him shattered, spiderweb-like cracks spreading outward.
In front of him, a dozen people knelt with their bodies bound, pale-faced and trembling.
"Hiiik!"
"W-We were wrong!"
"Please spare us!"
"We won’t—!"
But the man's expression remained cold.
"Shut up, you filthy rats."
Slash!
In an instant, four people lost their heads.
A fountain of blood sprayed into the air.
"Kyaaaaaa!"
A woman shrieked in horror.
In that mont—
Slash!
"I told you to shut up."
Her head flew off as well.
"From now on, anyone who opens their mouth dies. Understand?"
The remaining prisoners, faces drenched in tears and snot, could only nod desperately.
"Gghk!"
They bit their tongues and lips, struggling to suppress even the slightest sob.
The man, still brimming with irritation, finally spoke.
"Tch. I gave you food, shelter… and this is how you repay ? Trying to betray ?"
At that mont, the woman beside him adjusted her glasses and spoke.
"Sung-hyun-nim, please calm down."
"Hah… So where were these fools trying to run off to?"
"A faction led by a man nad Kim Jae-hyun. Their base is at Konkuk University Station, and their main headquarters is in Busan."
"What? Busan? That far away, and he still has influence here? Who the hell is this guy?"
"The intelligence suggests that he has an ability to create monster-proof areas. Thanks to that, hundreds of thousands of people have survived in Busan and are living normal lives."
The mont she finished speaking—
Park Sung-hyun cut her off with a boisterous laugh.
"Puhahahahaha!"
After laughing for a long mont, he sneered.
"What a load of bullshit. Hundreds of thousands? Do you even know how much food you’d need to keep that many people alive? And what, they’re living normal lives? Pffft!"
His face twisted in disgust.
"That bastard’s a fraud."
Deciding the matter on his own, he acted accordingly.
"We need to eliminate the trash quickly."
Park Sung-hyun turned to the woman and gave his orders.
"Prepare for war."
Not everyone was capable of making the right choice.
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