Ballantine cast them a brief glance.
After a mont of hesitation, he raised his voice and spoke to the people beyond the wall.
"If you want to leave, leave now. Didn't you say you wanted to get out from under Mr. Ryu?"
I imdiately warned him.
"They're not coming into my territory."
"I know."
Ballantine winked before turning back to the people.
"You said you wanted to leave, didn’t you? Said you couldn’t stand staying under Mr. Ryu any longer? Then leave now. There won’t be another chance later."
After making his statent, he dragged his suitcase down the conveyor belt.
Since there was still plenty of luggage left, I stayed put, keeping watch over the surroundings.
The man who had fallen on his ass finally seed to co to his senses, rubbing his ear as he got up.
He no longer t my gaze.
The others with weapons were just as intimidated.
They were even trying to discreetly hide behind the pillars.
As the man called Mr. Ryu hobbled toward his group behind the pillar, Cheon Young-jae approached .
"What are you going to do?" he asked, glancing at the people peeking at us from beyond the wall.
"Nothing."
We ca here today only to pick up Ballantine.
Taking in anyone else was neither planned nor sothing I intended to do.
Just because we had chosen group survival didn't an blindly increasing our numbers was a good idea. That was a shortcut to self-destruction.
Even within a group, I would only accept those I acknowledged or who were useful to us.
In this era, sympathy was no different from the luxury goods that once lined departnt store shelves before the war.
"This is the last of it," Ballantine said.
He hauled his final suitcase down the conveyor belt.
Buuuuuuuuuuung—
A distant engine noise reached us.
"Gasoline," Cheon Young-jae muttered.
Not our vehicle.
Our truck runs on an electric motor.
Buuuuung—
The sound of multiple engines, mixed with static-like distortion, followed in succession.
This wasn’t just one or two vehicles.
At least ten or more were passing through the area.
"Ballantine," I called out to him as he descended.
"That sound... is it from their group?"
Ballantine shook his head.
"No. These people don’t have cars or fuel. Whatever little they had, they ran out last spring."
The vehicles stopped.
Cheon Young-jae and I exchanged glances.
The sound hadn’t faded into the distance.
Which ant more than ten vehicles had co to a stop nearby.
"Who could it be?" Cheon Young-jae asked.
"Most likely raiders."
"You think so too?"
From the engine noise, the vehicles were clearly in poor condition.
They were probably running on low-grade synthetic fuel and hadn’t been properly maintained.
Operating like that, the vehicles wouldn’t last long.
A proper army maintenance unit wouldn't have such issues.
"Want to check it out?" Cheon Young-jae asked.
"Can you tell how many there are?"
"Not from here."
I signaled for him to stay put, then turned to Mr. Ryu, who was hiding behind a pillar.
"Hey. You there."
No response.
I kept talking anyway.
"That noise outside—what is it? If you know sothing, speak up. The sooner we figure it out, the sooner we can all get out of here."
Still no response, but I could hear whispering from beyond the pillar.
A mont later, Mr. Ryu's voice finally ca.
"Raiders."
As expected.
"They ride around in packs, kill people, steal supplies, and take any vehicles they find for themselves."
"They’re not here for you, are they?"
"They shouldn't be. I doubt they even know we're here."
"Then what are they here for?"
"What else? Fetching water."
"How long do they usually stay?"
"Two to three hours."
"Then I guess we’re stuck here until they leave."
Silence from the other side.
Clearly, they didn’t like the idea of us sticking around.
But what could they do?
There was no reason to fight raiders here.
With their unexpected arrival, we were now forced into an unplanned, uneasy cohabitation.
The boundary was set at the second pillar along the conveyor belt—everything beyond belonged to Mr. Ryu's group, everything on our side was ours.
To double-check, I asked Ballantine what he knew about the raiders.
"Now that you ntion it, I did hear vehicle noises from ti to ti. Sotis even late at night."
"Do you know who they are?"
"No."
Ballantine cast a cautious glance at Ryu’s group, then lowered his voice.
"Ryu’s people control everything the people here do.
They tell them not to go outside, not to even look out, dictate when they can relieve themselves, which direction to sleep in, how often they can bathe—they want everything under their thumb."
"You still managed to contact us."
"I tricked them into letting hook up a generator under the excuse of setting up an alarm system. That way, I could connect the satellite equipnt. If not for that, they would’ve banned computers altogether."
Ballantine hadn't joined Ryu’s group willingly.
"I was at Shelter 152. Near Bucheon. It was actually a good place. The shelter leader was young but competent.
Even last winter, when thousands of people froze to death, we survived without major losses.
But, well... there’s always that type, isn’t there?
The ones who think they could do a better job. The ones who think the place can’t function without them."
Shelter 152 had a population of around 1,500.
Its collapse was largely due to the Legion faction's withdrawal and increasing rebel activity.
But Ballantine believed the true cause of its downfall was Ryu Hyun-bu.
"He was a high school vice principal before the war. Never says which school, though.
But we do know he was an apartnt complex representative.
Every single person here ca from the sa apartnt complex.
At so point, he decided he wanted to be in charge.
He started scheming to take the leader’s position—slandering him, undermining his work, stirring up trouble.
Little by little, he poisoned the atmosphere."
Cheon Young-jae smirked.
"Ah, those types."
I looked at him.
"Seen a lot of them?"
"They're everywhere. The guys who think everything will go perfectly once they’re in charge.
And they’re always the ones who screw everything up."
Ballantine nodded in agreent.
"Eventually, Ryu forced the leader out.
The guy had skills, but he had a problem with won. Turns out he had an inappropriate relationship with soone.
Under normal circumstances, it was sothing he deserved to be punished for.
But let’s be real—this isn’t normal society anymore."
The shelter split in ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ two.
So people believed in the leader’s ability despite his flaws.
Others sided with Ryu Hyun-bu.
Of the 1,500 people, around 1,000 followed Ryu.
The remaining 500 stayed loyal to the original leader.
Ballantine chose Ryu’s side.
Not because he believed in him—just because it had more people.
Back then, he didn’t know Ryu well enough.
Once Ryu seized power, the first thing he did was move the shelter.
Afraid of the growing influence of fanatics, he decided to relocate closer to the Legion faction in Seoul, hoping for their protection.
From the very start, the plan was dood.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
Their convoy was ambushed at night—likely by a pack of mutant cats.
Then, to make things worse, the Legion bombed them.
A Legion scout had mistaken them for a rebel army.
The 1,000 people who followed Ryu dwindled to 100 in no ti.
Half died.
The other half cursed Ryu and went back.
Only Ryu’s original loyalists and a few people like Ballantine, who had no choice, remained.
The raiders had been lurking around them ever since.
Then, from outside, the sound of engines roared to life.
The noise faded into the distance.
The raiders were leaving.
Cheon Young-jae moved toward the split crevice to check.
"They’re gone. All of them are gone."
"Which direction?"
"West."
"Good."
It was ti to leave.
There was no reason to stay here any longer.
I glanced at Ryu Hyun-bu and his people, all watching us from behind the pillar.
Just then, my gaze t that of the man in the military uniform, who had been peeking out.
Since fate had us cross paths, I asked him,
"Which corps were you in?"
"7th Corps."
"The Eastern Front, right? That was there, wasn’t it?"
"Yeah."
Lies.
Before the war, the 7th Corps had been deployed as a 1st Army reserve unit to handle the collapse of North Korea’s operations.
Elite soldiers like those in Dies Irae were sent in for security operations in the North, but before long, those missions devolved into massacres driven by disgust and contempt.
No one knows exactly how many North Koreans died.
In a monster-infested world, the line between human and monster is thin.
"Let’s go."
Ballantine quickened his pace.
"I don’t know how much help I can be, but I owe Skelton-nim a lot. I’ll make sure to et your expectations."
"No, it’s who should be asking for your help."
Before leaving, I looked at the people behind Ryu Hyun-bu’s group.
Despite his intimidation tactics, n and won of all ages stared at us desperately.
"......"
I had no intention of taking them in.
I didn’t have the capacity to.
But still, they were people.
I looked around.
I plugged my nose and took a deep breath.
The overwhelming stench was a breeding ground for disease.
In this swamp, everything rotted and decayed.
Under Ryu Hyun-bu, everyone here would die.
That much was certain.
Their chances of survival outside weren’t high, but at least they’d have a sliver of hope—a hope they’d never find rotting here.
Hoping they’d find so luck, I turned to Cheon Young-jae.
"Is there a place nearby that takes in refugees?"
"Wonju or Gangneung would be the safest bet. But if they follow the road, they’re likely to run into the Legion faction.
Those Legion bastards are assholes, but they don’t kill civilians.
That artillery strike from before? That was just bad luck. Or... was it self-inflicted?
I an, marching a thousand people together in one group—what did they expect?"
"If they run into the Legion, they might survive?"
"Maybe?"
Even he wasn’t sure.
That’s the kind of world we lived in.
Still, it was better than nothing.
"Wait a second."
I put down my gun and approached Ryu Hyun-bu, unard.
His people tensed, but seeing that I wasn’t ard, they didn’t raise their guns.
I walked past the pillar and found Ryu Hyun-bu.
He looked up at , shrinking back, his face full of uncertainty.
His expression scread, Why?
I spoke to him.
"If you stay here, you’ll all die. What are you going to do?"
"That’s none of your business."
"That’s true."
I looked at the people beyond the wall.
"But they have the right to choose."
Ryu Hyun-bu’s face twisted in anger, but he was an ordinary man.
And it wasn’t just him.
The other n, the ones who enforced his rule, were the sa.
They had worn their armbands, acted as enforcers, oppressed these people—but now, standing in front of us, proven fighters, they couldn’t even hold their ground.
"Hey."
I spoke to the people behind the wall.
"If you want to leave, co with us. We’ll take you across on the raft first."
"Who the fuck do you think you are?!"
Ryu Hyun-bu shouted.
I stepped toward him.
Guns were pointed at , but I didn’t flinch.
"Mr. Ryu Hyun-bu."
I stared him down and spoke clearly.
"I’m leaving the choice to them."
Ryu Hyun-bu shook with rage, then looked away.
I turned to the n holding the guns and stared them down.
They hurriedly lowered their weapons, looking away.
With the obstacles removed, I turned back to the people behind the wall.
"Go. You are free."
I couldn’t guarantee their future, but at the very least, I could give them the choice.
In the past, I would’ve ignored this entirely.
But the past and the present are different things.
"Seonbae."
Cheon Young-jae whistled as I walked back.
"Not bad."
I looked at the people.
"......"
The mont I saw their faces, I knew what would happen next.
"Mr. Ryu..."
"Mr. Ryu, don’t be discouraged."
"We’re not leaving."
"A lot has happened, but we got this far thanks to you, Mr. Ryu!"
"Hey, you guys! Just leave! Why the hell should we trust you?"
"Yeah, what reason do we have to follow you?"
I had thought they were trapped under Ryu Hyun-bu—oppressed by him, dying under his rule.
I had thought they had no other choice but death.
But I was wrong.
They were defending him.
As their cheers for Ryu grew louder, as their hatred toward us intensified, Ballantine walked up, shaking his head.
"......After all the shit they talked..."
Ballantine looked at them, utterly baffled.
"What the fuck is wrong with them?"
It didn’t matter.
And there was no ti to waste.
"Let’s go."
There was nothing left for us here.
I had given them a choice, and they had chosen to stay.
Ssshhh—
Ballantine pulled the rope, guiding the raft toward the shore.
Cheon Young-jae and I stood in silence, watching the sunset reflect off the swamp.
This place wasn’t always a swamp—it had once been a sports park.
A series of coincidences had turned it into a swamp.
A swamp doesn’t form on its own.
It needs clay-rich soil that prevents drainage, a depth that keeps it from turning into a lake, and just enough water—neither too much nor too little.
A swamp is born when all these conditions align.
Ryu Hyun-bu’s group was no different.
A series of circumstances—so random, so inevitable—had led them here.
And like the swamp, they had trapped themselves in their own sinking pit.
I had no reason to return here.
And even if, by so unlikely chance, I did...
I would have no reason to look back at that ruin.
Because in every sense of the word—
They were already part of the swamp.
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