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There are 300 soldiers alone. All of them are armed with rifles, wearing bulletproof helmets and full gear, and even carrying support weapons.

If we were to face them head-on, there was no one who could defeat them. Even the Alliance lacked the strength.

That’s why the Alliance planned a thorough urban warfare strategy. And they planned it ruthlessly.

I realized this painfully in the conference room of the general hospital where I arrived following the Evangelical Elder.

***

The interior of the general hospital, which I entered with the Evangelical Elder, was like a maze. Fences, similar to those around construction sites, were installed all over the lobby and hallways, and the people of the Hope Community were diligently welding them to secure them firmly.

A loud noise accompanied by sparks flying like embers filled the air.

The Evangelical Elder nodded to them.

“You’re working hard.”

“Not at all, Elder.”

This is the process of obtaining electricity and transforming the general hospital into a fortress. It seems they are putting in effort to prepare, as this place will likely become their base.

Occasionally, I saw police officers wandering around with shotguns. Firefighters in casual clothes were also moving around, checking fire extinguishers.

I narrowed my eyes and imagined attacking this place from a military perspective.

‘There’s no way to win in a straightforward fight.’

Pushing in troops would be too dangerous. The only options are to surround and starve them out or bombard the building to collapse it entirely.

Even before they could fully synergize, the Alliance’s capabilities were evident.

That capability was still felt when we arrived at the conference room.

In the spacious room with tables and chairs, there were many familiar faces.

The leader of the police pillager squad with a sawed-off shotgun on the table, Rider Zero hugging her helmet like a doll, Gijeonah focused on her phone, Mr. Ho with his face tightly covered, a firefighter in fireproof gear, a one-eyed archer fiddling with arrows, an elderly man in a doctor’s coat…

The Evangelical Elder greeted them and pulled out a chair to sit.

“I’m a bit late.”

“Not at all, you arrived early enough. …But who’s that beside you?”

The elderly man, who seemed to be the hospital director, cautiously glanced at me. There was a sense of wariness toward a stranger attending such an important meeting.

But the hospital director wasn’t the only one here.

Before I could speak, as the Evangelical Elder gestured to introduce me, others recognized me first.

Mr. Ho suddenly stood up and pointed at me.

“What! You! How did you get here?”

“Mr. Ho, you’re here too. Long time no see. How’s your leg? I heard you got shot.”

“What, what.”

I responded nonchalantly, giving him a sympathetic look as if concerned about his leg.

Mr. Ho seemed at a loss for words, only making strange, stifled noises. As if taking his place, the police pillager squad leader waved his hand, and Rider Zero tilted her head.

“Hey, friend. How have you been? What brings you here?”

“How did you get here? Aren’t you from a small survivor group?”

Curiosity and suspicion. I didn’t open my mouth. There was no need for me to directly dispel the doubts and wariness. It was more convincing to be introduced and explained by someone else.

The Evangelical Elder calmly spoke up.

“This person has been managing safety in our community and is a disaster response expert. The indoor farms and defense measures all went through his hands.”

“That’s right. Remember when we got all those planters last time? He was the one who sold them.”

Even the police leader chimed in, and the strangers’ wariness seemed to ease a bit.

I took that moment to glance at the ceiling lights and added,

“You’ve restored electricity. That opens up a lot of possibilities. Are you interested in factory farming? I have some plant growth lights.”

“Smart farming, huh?”

The hospital director’s eyes sparkled as if he had heard of it. The one-eyed archer also showed interest.

“How’s the yield?”

“Not bad. If you stack shelves, provide light with growth lamps, and control the temperature with air conditioning, it’s enough to fill your stomach.”

“But why did you sell the planters? If they’re that good, you could have used them yourself.”

A probing voice, as if suspecting a scam. The archer’s one eye glared at me, questioning why I would share such a profitable thing.

I met the archer’s gaze with a look of disbelief, as if he didn’t understand the world.

“With the electricity cut off, smart farming doesn’t make sense. A handgun would be more helpful.”

“…Right.”

I’m not Sajihyeok, and being treated like a scammer was a bit annoying. The hospital director laughed and tried to smooth things over.

“Every expert is valuable. If you’re here to join us, you’re welcome.”

Just as the atmosphere relaxed and I was about to sit down, Gijeonah suddenly put down her phone and looked me up and down.

“Hey. Haven’t we met before?”

The representative of the Electric Nomads, Gijeonah, the electricity expert. Did she remember me from when I stole masks? But the suspicion in her eyes wasn’t firm—just a faint doubt.

“We’ve met. I’ve sold electronics and gone to charge devices.”

I glanced around subtly. The firefighter who helped me kill the hiking club was frowning slightly, and Mr. Ho was still standing, pointing at me.

Three people suspected me, three had a connection with me, and the hospital director and archer were neutral.

‘It would be perfect to kill one of the suspicious ones.’

I suppressed my murderous intent. To blend in with productive people, I had to pretend to be productive too.

It would be better to show ambition to gather mercenaries and form a group.

‘That was the goal from the start anyway.’

Mr. Ho, who had been pointing at me, finally sat down with a thud.

“This is ridiculous.”

That was all he muttered. He probably knew that continuing to argue with me would only hurt him. If the argument continued, it might come out that he had advised me to cling to the military for news.

Mr. Ho exaggeratedly groaned and rubbed his leg.

“Ah, my leg. My leg hurts.”

“Hey, don’t touch it. The wound hasn’t healed yet. Leave it alone.”

The hospital director warned. Mr. Ho, who had been scolded for no reason, sighed deeply and rested his chin on the table.

“Let’s talk about the military. It seems like they’re planning to enter the city soon.”

But no one opened their mouths. Instead, they glanced at me.

Apart from their wariness, they were questioning my qualifications to attend this meeting. The Evangelical Elder slowly spoke.

“He knows about the military and is considering joining as a mercenary.”

“Yes. It seems there’s a limit to just surviving passively.”

I explained sincerely.

Disaster response knowledge has become almost meaningless. The I-Virus and the collapsed society. I no longer see a way to apply my skills.

This time, I want to take the risk and gather mercenaries to form a proper survivor organization. Of course, I hate the military too. 300 pillagers are absurd.

I looked each person in the eye, revealing my ambition.

“So, if you’re okay with it, I’d like to be appointed as the mercenary manager. Of course, I’ll offer the growth lights as a trade. Combined, they can light up an entire villa building.”

The people made ambiguous expressions but soon nodded in agreement.

“Sure, this guy seems resourceful. Remember how he handled the apartment last time? He’s got connections with us.”

The police leader was the first to agree.

“…He’s a bit crazy, but he’s fine as a mercenary.”

Even Mr. Ho nodded unexpectedly. The others thought for a moment but didn’t object.

After all, mercenaries are expendable. It doesn’t matter who leads them.

Moreover, I have significant connections with various people, which they likely considered.

I leaned forward and placed my arms on the table.

“If you entrust me with this, I’ll do my best.”

“How? How do you plan to do your best?”

It was the archer. He just seemed strict by nature. I smiled faintly and spoke calmly.

“Murder. Kill mercenaries suspected of being spies, kill soldiers, kill those cooperating with the military, kill pillagers threatening the Alliance, kill them all.”

Of course, the resources from the pillaging would be mine. Even the Alliance couldn’t touch that.

After a brief silence, the archer burst into laughter. He grabbed an arrow and slammed it into the table.

“That’s impressive. Shooting arrows at clueless people is the way to go.”

“Yeah, you have to be ruthless. Spies should be killed.”

The police leader laughed too, and I joined in.

But the others didn’t share the amusement, either looking away uncomfortably or staring blankly.

And then, the meeting properly began.

***

There wasn’t much for mercenaries to do yet. I hadn’t even gathered people. But my future tasks seemed already decided.

Setting traps, ambushes, and sporadic battles. Working diligently as the Alliance’s hand.

I listened to their conversation, rubbing my goosebump-covered arm.

“There’s plenty of poison. Drugs that can be used as poison too. Just feeding them this would cause significant damage.”

The hospital director, who had been worried about Mr. Ho’s wound, talked about killing soldiers with poison.

“We can make proper explosives. We’ve secured some gas canisters, and the police provided bullets we can dismantle for gunpowder.”

“I also delivered sulfur. We have plenty of electronic timers and wires.”

Gijeonah, the electricity expert, sparkled with excitement as she talked about explosives.

“We’re properly armed too. We won’t be pushed around in urban combat.”

The police leader aimed his sawed-off shotgun at the ceiling and made a gunshot sound.

Others were similar. The firefighter talked about arson and gas pipeline explosions based on his experience, and the archer talked about coating arrows with zombie saliva for nighttime sniping.

Even all these weapons synergized.

Drone attacks by the Electric Nomads, gas explosions with timed bombs, poison-tipped arrows, oil and fire arrows for arson…

With different resources intersecting, the applications were endless.

‘Are these people really insane? Preparing so many ways to kill people?’

I clasped my hands and listened intently. There was so much to learn. This was all valuable knowledge, reusable methods.

 

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