Chapter 17 – Clan Establishment (3)
4.
Gulp!
Kim Tae Hoon swallowed a red gem that he placed in his mouth. After swallowing, Kim Tae Hoon let out a b.l.o.o.d.y breath.
Kim Tae Hoon put his hand through the red mist and placed another red gem in his mouth.
“Ugh……”
Bang Hyun Wook let out a long sigh from behind him.
“I can’t eat anymore…… I really can’t. “
Bang Hyun said to himself after sighing.
Although he had mumbled to himself, it was a bit loud.
He had mumbled with the hope that his neighbor nearby would hear him. He was hoping that Kim Tae Hoon would hear him.
Instead of replying to Bang Hyun Wook’s mumbling, Kim Tae Hoon swallowed another red gem.
He was like a machine.
Bang Hyun Wook was astonished at the scene.
‘Hyungnim is really amazing. I can barely eat thirty, but he’s already had over eighty.’
Bang Hyun Wook sunk into his memories.
After they had successfully hunted the mud troll, Kim Tae Hoon had declared that he was making a clan, and had received volunteers.
Of course, many of them were only given a choice in name and were mostly forced to join.
None of them wanted to be thrown out into a world where monsters roamed free.
Afterwards, they set up a temporary base in a nearby church and began collecting the monster corpses.
The amount of monster corpses was overflowing. It was difficult to try and get all the corpses within a short time period.
In addition, the small number of survivors within the unit limited the amount of corpses they could collect.
Nevertheless, they were able to collect more than 100 monster stones.
So with that, Kim Tae Hoon had devoured a portion of the collected monster stones.
Truly a monopoly.
Kim Tae Hoon’s greed seemed to have no limits, leaving one to believe that perhaps it was a bit much.
Kim Tae Hoon knew as well.
Gulp!
Having swallowed many monster stones, there was a thick stench of blood in Kim Tae Hoon’s throat.
It was a result of not having thoroughly cleaned the monster stones on retrieval.
Kim Tae Hoon had tightly closed his mouth to endure the nauseating taste. While shutting his mouth closed, he looked around.
The soldiers were resting in the church……, no, they were now his subordinates.
When his gaze landed on them, they would try to avoid his gaze.
They would make eye contact for only a moment.
But it wasn’t hard to read their eyes.
‘They look at me as though I’m a greedy giant. ‘
He was sure that his new subordinates did not see him as a capable leader that they could believe in and respect.
He was sure of it.
To them, their new leader possessed great skill, but he was no more than a greedy poison.
But it was normal for them to think that.
Until now, all of Kim Tae Hoon’s actions indicated that he was fueled by greed and self-righteousness.
‘This will serve as a risk someday… . … ‘
Kim Tae Hoon was acting greedily because he was the only one that was really watching the situation with a cool-head.
Gulp!
‘Can’t do anything about it now.’
Kim Tae Hoon swallowed the last of the gems in his possession, then took a picture of his hand with his smartphone.
[Basic Abilities]
Strength : 60
Stamina: 42
[Special Abilities]
Energy : E Rank
Mana : E Rank
Telekinesis: A Rank
Physical Defense : E Rank
Magic Resistance : E Rank
[Acquired Abilities]
– Black Skin (6th Grade)
– Troll’s Vitality (6th Grade) : The power of the mud troll consumes Energy to hasten recovery and regeneration.
The information on the displayed enter his gaze, showing that his Strength had reached 60 points and that he had acquired a new ability, [Troll’s Vitality].
Kim Tae Hoon clenched his fists.
‘Sure is amazing. ‘
He didn’t have to break anything to know. It was the fact that his strength had grown beyond human constraints.
At least now Kim Tae Hoon had the strength stand up against powerful beasts.
It was a clear result of his monopoly.
If Kim Tae Hoon had distributed the monster stones fairly or reasonably like someone else might have, he wouldn’t have reached such a result.
It’s not that it was completely unreasonable to distribute the stones.
Most people seek to be rational in their decisions.
In fact, most things needed to be approach with a rational mindset. If one isn’t reasonable, then eventually one’s accomplishments will degrade and collapse.
The issue comes from the fact that the circ.u.mstances surrounding Kim Tae Hoon cannot be rationalized.
‘It’s still not enough.’
The Awakened had appeared to combat humanity’s new enemy, the monsters.
Simply put, the only means of survival for humans is for the Awakened to kill the monsters.
It was only natural that the Awakened would dispose of them.
‘Dragon, with this level of power…….’
Dragon.
An incredibly powerful monster that could frighten all living things just by being there.
Had Kim Tae Hoon not encountered the dragon, he would have opted to fairly distribute the monster stones instead of monopolizing all of them.
If he had gathered the Awakened and tried to improve all of their stats and overall power, he could have created a powerful monster hunting group.
He would have distributed the monster stones under the premise of fair distribution.
But if he were to try and create such a group now, it would take more than ten years to build up everyone’s stats to a level where they could take care of the dragon.
There was no guarantee that the dragon would remain still.
‘ …… This level is not high enough.’
There’s no guarantee that only one dragon exists or that there aren’t any other insanely strong monsters.
As a result, it would be inefficient to make a team.
It was something extreme.
A hundred well made arrows, not thousands, and a sharp knife. Those were things they needed.
The clan that Kim Tae Hoon created was a tool to create such a sharp blade.
‘This amount is lacking.’
Without a doubt, Kim Tae Hoon will take possession of most of the monster stones in the future.
However, if the military were still functioning, Kim Tae Hoon wouldn’t need to worry about something like this and he wouldn’t even bother to do this.
‘I can’t expect any aid to come from the state.’
By this point, Kim Tae Hoon had abandoned any expectations he had placed on the military.
‘If the Capital Defense Command has fallen, then the majority of the rear units would have collapsed as well. Only the frontliners will survive fighting against the monsters, but it’s very likely that they are isolated. It’ll be hard to stay here without any supplies.’
We can’t expect anything from anyone, and have to a.s.sume the worst.
‘If the front line collapses during this situation…… .’
The worst of the worst.
‘ …… If the front lines collapse and the monsters from North Korea come down, we’ll really be pushed up against a cliff’s edge.’
Considering the worst case scenario, Kim Tae Hoon was once again looking at the mark of awakening on his right hand.
‘The only way to survive would be to climb the cliff face.’
It was enlightenment that he had achieved by fighting through numerous battlefields.
There was nothing more pointless than hoping to pull something out of your a.s.s.
Same went for waiting for some sort of hero like a firefighter to appear. It was like endlessly waiting for a winning lottery ticket.
‘If you want to live, then you have to personally pave a path for survival.’
Like that, Kim Tae Hoon woke up from his reverie.
”Attention. “
Those who had been trying to avoid Kim Tae Hoon’s gaze suddenly focused on him.
“After 2 hours, I will go and sweep away the remaining monsters in the vicinity of the army base. Your primary objective is the armory. After you secure the armory, stock up on supplies. Your secondary objective is to help clear away the monsters in the base. Kill the monsters and retrieve the monster stones from the corpses. Afterwards we’ll take a break.”
Having finished his commands, Kim Tae Hoon looked towards Ahn Sun Mi.
‘‘Ahn Sun Mi, how are the wounded?”
Having taken care of the wounded, Ahn Sun Mi replied with an astonished expression.
”There are no problems with moving.”
She couldn’t believe what she was seeing even as she talked to him.
Those who were missing chunks of flesh and those with wounds that would leave permanent damage would have recovered after a few months, but were treated on the spot simply by rubbing the troll’s flesh on their wounds, astounding Ahn Sun Mi despite the years of her life she had dedicated to the medical field.
Regardless, Kim Tae Hoon did not take Ahn Sun Mi’s mind into consideration.
“Second Lieutenant, what about the keys to the armory? “
“I have secured it, sir.”
‘‘I’ll take any questions now.”
This was the first time that Kim Tae Hoon had offered to answer any questions.
n.o.body raised their hands.
Because they were soldiers.
Soldiers don’t ask questions. There were only two things, commands and actions.
If a soldier raised their hands in this situation…… .
‘‘I have a question. What comes after securing the armory, clearing the base, and then resting, sir?”
“I have not decided yet.”
“What if we move to Bucheon Stadium, sir? “
The speaking party had already lost the meaning of being a soldier.
”And the reason being?”
“There is a museum there sir. If there are relics like the kind that boss talked about earlier, ah is it ok to call you boss? Well anyways, isn’t it likely that the relics that boss talked about would be there? There is also a bow exhibit there.”
Kim Tae Hoon looked at the person who spoke.
He was a young man in his early twenties of short stature who was mouse-like in appearance. Rather than give off a sense of reliability, it made one want to be wary around him.
”Your name? “
“My name is Chang Sung Hoon. I’ve turned twenty-two years old since the new year pa.s.sed.
His name was Chang Sung Hoon.
“What was your occupation before the army?”
“Ah, that’s…… I’ve done a few different odd jobs here and there, I didn’t have a specific career……. “
“Just tell me three of the things you’ve done. “
“I’ve forged art pieces, dealt in hot goods, and dabbled in smuggling.”
His profession was that of a criminal.