Apocalypse Hunter

If Cho-yul were to talk loudly about how they’d been drinking urine in front of the unsuspecting customers, there could be a riot, so he kept his volume low.

“U-Uh, why don’t we go inside? Let’s have a talk inside, sir. Hey, you! You take care of customers while I talk to this man.”

The waiter, who had been sitting at the far corner of the bar, came over and stood at the counter.

The owner wouldn’t be violent because there was a Reaver monitoring the bar. Cho-yul quietly followed the owner into a room behind the counter. The layout of the inner chamber was unique. Past the door was what looked like a motel hallway with many rooms on each side.

The building turned out not to be abandoned, but a makeshift building put together with whatever materials laying around instead. Once inside, the owner started to bow repeatedly to Cho-yul.

“Please, forgive me just this one time. I’ll refund your money. My inexperience must have ruined your appetite…”

The owner apologized for his inexperience in making beer.

He fumbled around and handed a chip to Cho-yul. Cho-yul put the chip in his pocket, but his facial expression showed that he still wasn’t happy.

“The fact that there’s no alcohol is not because of your lack of experience.”

When it came to alcohol, no one could fool Cho-yul. He looked straight at the owner and asked, “How did you find the freshwater sea cucumber?”

“H-How?!”

The owner turned pale, but Cho-yul continued, “Do you think that I haven’t had a fair share of fake alcohol?”

Making fake beer required careful planning. It wasn’t something just anyone could make without any planning.

Only three ingredients were required: water and urine as the foundation, and one other crucial ingredient.

The crucial ingredient was the skin of a freshwater sea cucumber. Freshwater sea cucumber sounded like an oxymoron, but no other name would fit this marine creature.

They were relatively safe, but they polluted the water. The fact that the contaminated water smelled similar to alcohol had sparked the interest of shysters. Many attempted to make fake beer with it until someone—after much trial and errors—succeeded in doing so.

The freshwater sea cucumbers were curious creatures that stayed alive even when they were cut apart. And even after they had been dehydrated to a crisp, they would come back to life with just a little bit of water. If you put a slice of freshwater sea cucumber in water, and then urinate on it, the freshwater sea cucumber would metabolize the urine and produce a liquid that tasted and smelled like beer.

In other words, what you were really drinking was the excrement of the freshwater sea cucumber after it had feasted on human urine.

Even if it tasted like alcohol, it wasn’t alcohol because it didn’t make one feel drunk. Selling that to someone as alcohol was an atrocity.

The freshwater sea cucumber was also good business because it grew back to its original size after some time, and it could be resold to another would-be crook for a very good price.

The owner had to have gone through a lot of trouble to obtain the skin of a freshwater sea cucumber, and that meant that it wasn’t a mistake. It would’ve been his intention to sell fake beer all along.

As his deviant plan was being unraveled in front of him, the owner looked more and more desperate.

“I-I had to in order to eat! Please, have mercy on me and forgive me!”

The owner knelt down in front of Cho-yul. If Cho-yul were to tell other customers about the fake beer, there was no telling what the customers would do, let alone the patrolling Reaver. Cho-yul stared at him blankly, and the owner continued, “T-They took everything from me. I had no choice!”

“…”

Cho-yul grimaced. ‘They took everything?’

“Are you telling me that the Group took everything from you?”

“Yes!”

“Tell me more in detail.”

His initial plan was to get information from the drunks, but he had found an unexpected source. The owner looked uncomfortable, but he sighed and then raised his fingers to point toward the rooms in the back.

“Uh… I… used to be a drug dealer.”

“…”

Cho-yul was stunned.

How did a drug dealer end up owning a bar? The owner’s statement had piqued Cho-yul’s interest in his story, but it also confirmed his suspicion that the bar owner was the lowest of the low.

————-

“This is very good.”

“That is good?”

“For sure, of course,” said the woman as she handed a bunch of medicinal herbs for CP addiction to Ramphil.

Ramphil was being very straightforward and direct.

‘How are you doing these days?’ he would ask as if he had known the person for a long time. But since they had never met before, he would come across very direct.

He had been casually asking that question as he picked up some useless object or two at the various stores he visited throughout the city. That was the only thing he could ask without raising any suspicion from the Reavers.

The merchants had been saying that things were better, but because there were Reavers keeping an eye at every store of decent size, Ramphil didn’t fully trust their answers.

However, here was a young lady selling things out of her sacks at a street corner. Her store was so small, there wasn’t even a Reaver around.

“We know who to pay now, so that makes things easier.”

“Pay?”

“You know, the tax.”

“Oh, right… the tax.”

Free cities were free market places, but the merchants were required to pay taxes or fees to security forces or unions. Without those organizations, keeping peace in a free city would not be possible.

Ramphil didn’t know anything about that, but he pretended like he understood.

“In the past, three different gangs were in control of the same districts in Shane.”

“Three?”

“Yes, one was a security force led by the sheriff, and the other two were gangs. They were always in turf wars, and we would have to pay taxes to the sheriff one day, to the Skull Family the next day, and then to the Shandoo Tribe the next. That was such a pain, so it’s good that we don’t have to deal with that now.”

“Hmm… that sounds complicated,” said Ramphil as he tilted his head.

The lady handed him another bunch of herbs. He understood what that meant, so he handed her a chip to purchase another bunch of medicinal herbs he didn’t even need.

“It’s not that complicated. We only have to pay the Group now. Case closed. That’s a lot better for someone like me. But do you know what I can’t stand? The kids must have thought that the gangs were cool. They hang out in groups and act like the gangs. Seeing that is both funny and upsetting to me. What can they gain by acting tough, causing trouble and belittling others in a country this small? It just makes things more difficult for us.”

Ramphil wondered if the lady was giving him info in exchange for the chip or if she was just someone who liked to complain.

The Group had just taken over this area, so the kids—like the ones Leona had run into—were actually imitating the three gangs of Shane from before the Group.

“Turns out they were just big fish in a small pond. Once the Group came, they had to put their tails in between their legs and plead for their lives. Seeing that was the greatest moment of my life.” The lady laughed out loud as she reminisced.

“What happened to the three gangs?”

“What do you think? They were cleaned up.”

“Cleaned up? Do you mean they were killed?”

“Not exactly. Asura came. I guess we’re not such a small city after all. And yeah, she was definitely scary.”

There was both respect and fear in the woman’s face as she remembered Asura. As if she were recalling Asura’s every word from memory, she continued with a blank look on her face. “Now that you are my people, I’ll be the judge of your rank. All traditions, rules and organizations are meaningless now. You must keep peace. That is not a suggestion. That is the first law I’m putting into effect as your new King,”

After repeating those words, the woman had a soft smile on her face. Ramphil felt a strange energy from her.

‘She remembers that too well.’

Even her pattern of speech sounded different when she was repeating Asura’s words.

‘Is she… under a spell or something?’

Only a spell could explain the strange energy he had felt, but the woman kept talking excitedly, “She said those words while she made the three gang leaders kneel in front of her and bang their heads on the ground in front of everyone. That was so cool. After that, the three of them were in bed for days.”

The woman continued talking enthusiastically for a while. Because he had been running around the city, he was able to run into this talkative woman and complete his mission.

The Group had left a small group of Reavers in charge of the territory. The leader of the Group controlled the city. Their weaponry was so much more powerful than that of the existing groups that no one even dared to fight against them.

He also found out that the Group sometimes collected food and chips from the citizens, but that that was nothing compared to the heinous acts of the old gangs.

“Thank you.”

“But, why do you want to know these things?” asked the woman when she got tired of talking. Ramphil had no idea of what to say. It would not be good if she were to report him to the Reavers as a spy.

Killing her would be the easiest solution, and the thought flashed in his mind. That was the only way to avoid problems, and it would be easy since they were on the outskirts of the city.

After some thought, Ramphil pointed to the pile of medicinal herbs.

“I’ll buy all of it.”

“Really?”

He didn’t say anything more. He was purchasing all of her herbs so that she would not ask any more questions and would keep her mouth shut.

The woman understood and smiled sheepishly. “That wasn’t my intention, but thank you.”

They silently exchanged bribes. The woman would not report the nice spy who bought all her herbs to the Reavers.

For two people who had never met before, their communication had gone splendidly.

As Ramphil stood up to leave, she mentioned something casually, “It may just be a rumor, but…”

“What?”

“I heard that Asura rules over life and death.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. It could just be a rumor… something people say because they’re scared.”

“Hmm…” said Ramphil and left.

With a parcel of medicinal herbs on his back, he started to organize his thoughts as he made his way back to the hotel. Because the lady was a blabbermouth, he had learned a lot.

‘Originally, Shane was a place filled with strife due to the three different gangs fighting over the control of the city. Given that even kids are acting like those gangs, they seem to have had a long history in Shane.

‘The Group broke up the gang and became the new power, and the citizens are relatively happy that they only have to pay one group, regardless of the amount.

‘The reason for the Reavers to patrol the city is not only for keeping peace, but also for keeping tabs on the gangs’ activities.

‘The Group left behind a group of Reavers of certain size and power at the colony. The leader of the Reavers is acting as the mayor or the city administrator…

‘That would all be difficult for the Reavers to carry out… Yet, I don’t feel any resistance in the Group. Is Asura’s charisma powerful enough to convince the Reavers to go against their nature? What is this thing about her ruling over life and death? Is that some sorcery again? Damn!

‘I’m starting to think that everything I don’t understand is sorcery.’

Ramphil wasn’t too pleased with himself for thinking that way, but it was true in a way.

Ever since he became mixed up in that sorcery business, he started realizing that he wasn’t such a perfect human being, and that realization was both inconvenient and unsettling.

On the other hand, there were some pluses, too.

‘My teammates should’ve found out something useful, too.’

One major progress was that once he realized that he wasn’t perfect, he became more open to trusting other people. Although, right now, it appeared more like he was dumping his responsibility on them.

—————-

Zin’s approach was even more direct than Ramphil’s. As soon as he left hotel, he went straight to the Reaver who was patrolling the area.

“I’m a hunter.”

“So what?” replied the guard with a gun when Zin suddenly introduced himself.

“What should I call you? A Boss? Brother? Leader?”

The Reavers had many names for their leader, but the most commonly used one was ‘boss.’ It wasn’t clear whether the Group had the same practice.

“I would like to have a constructive discussion with whoever is in charge. How about it?”

Others might have chosen a more subtle approach, but Zin had decided to leverage his hunter status and take a more aggressive approach.

As expected, the Reaver showed as much excitement as he would have for some cold leftover rice. It was unlikely that their leader would meet with a hunter just because he had requested it and highly probable that the request would not get past the guard.

“We’re doing fine on our own.”

No self-respecting organization of their size would need a hunter’s help to handle their businesses. The guard’s response showed confidence as it should.

However, Zin was a virtuoso, adept at creating demand for his services. A virtuoso might be a strange way of putting it, but he could easily have the guard wrapped around his fingers.

“I know you have high-powered weapons, but isn’t there a problem you guys can’t manage?”

The Reaver’s gaze turned cold. “… If you don’t shut up, things could get ugly…”

“Haven’t you guys had to fight the ghosts recently?”

The guard’s facial expression froze. They could shoot and kill most monsters and they had been protecting Shane by doing so.

Just recently, however, when the headstone at the Heavenly Power Castle was deactivated, the ghosts of surrounding areas started being sucked there. Zin knew that Shane’s sky would’ve been filled with all kinds of ghosts flying by.

The ghosts didn’t do any damage to the city, but the Reavers should’ve imagined the worst.

How would they fight a legion of ghosts when their guns didn’t work against them? Did that terrify the Reavers?

“Even if things are fine, I can at least teach you guys how to fight ghosts. The more you know, right?

Even if they didn’t have any problems now, they would want to know how to fight the ghosts.

Creating a demand was a simple matter.

Everyone feared something, and his job was to find it and amplify it.

“… I will ask and see. Follow me.”

The Reaver remembered the terror he had felt then and started heading somewhere.