Chapter 46 – Bandits (1)

After passing Paldang Dam, we soon left the Han River and headed toward Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province.

We had no intention of entering the complex Gwangju city.

This was because the Jungbu Expressway, heading south, passed by Gwangju city.

We planned to get on the expressway through the tollgate before entering Gwangju city.

Before sunset, we managed to reach the tollgate and access the expressway.

While the tollgate was packed with cars and there were quite a few wandering zombies, we didn’t necessarily need to pass through it to get on the expressway.

I drove the car through a maintenance road, allowing us to get on the expressway without passing through the tollgate.

“I was worried about how we’d get through, but there was a perfect side road right here.”

While Hoffman seemed simply pleased, Zahina looked at me with contemplative eyes.

Though she didn’t say anything, it seemed she had noticed something.

She might not have realized that this world was where I lived my previous life, but she seemed to have figured out that I had prior knowledge of this world.

It was inevitable.

I hadn’t really tried my best to hide it either.

While it would have been better to keep it hidden, there was no reason to make things difficult for myself trying not to get caught.

Moreover, it was harder to pretend ignorance than I’d expected.

I had thought it would become easier to hide once we met people and Hoffman and Zahina experienced this world.

But as the two learned more about this world, it actually became easier for them to notice.

Fortunately, they weren’t asking questions, so I planned to leave things as they were.

Beyond the tollgate crowded with cars, the expressway was wide open.

While there were abandoned cars, we didn’t need to constantly push aside blocking vehicles like we did on the national road.

When the first lane was blocked, we’d use the second lane, and when both were blocked, we’d drive on the shoulder, continuously heading south.

Though we couldn’t drive over 100km/h like in my previous life, we seemed to maintain an average speed of over 40km/h.

At this rate, if nothing went wrong, we could reach our destination in a day or two.

Such thoughts, as always, were destined to be shattered.

Around sunset, as we were passing the outskirts of Icheon city, we had to stop the car.

Numerous vehicles blocked our path.

Dozens of abandoned cars blocked both the road and shoulder, and in front of them, trucks and buses were parked across the road.

Once again, someone had created a barricade using vehicles.

The barricade wasn’t just on our side of the road. The opposite northbound lane was similarly blocked with large vehicles.

“This seems to be the end of the road for this car.”

As I stopped the car, Hoffman opened the door with a disappointed face.

“This car was really nice. I wonder if we could make something like this in our world?”

I briefly considered the possibility of Hoffman’s question.

Using magic for power, and maybe blacksmiths could roughly manage the suspension?

“Well… We might be able to make something similar with magic… But even then, only nobles would be able to ride them.”

“True, it wouldn’t be for people like us.”

Hoffman sighed at my words.

Not that this sparked any revolutionary flames in his heart to overthrow the nobility.

For someone who had lived his entire life under kings and nobles, it was simply a matter of regret.

I felt the same way.

Zahina seemed equally disappointed.

“Do we have to walk from here?”

She asked me while taking one last look around the car.

I shook my head. There was no reason to struggle unnecessarily when we could find another means of transport.

“No, we can climb over that wall of cars and find another vehicle.”

“Oh, other cars work too? Then let’s hurry!”

After all, we just needed to start the engine.

While we needed ignition keys, we could find them by dealing with corpses or zombies around the cars.

That’s how we got this car too.

At my words, Zahina quickly got out of the car.

Finally, I patted the hood and got out as well.

Our first car, dented all around from pushing other vehicles, had now fulfilled its duty and would remain behind us.

“Why did they build a wall here? Could it be a defense line against the undead?”

While it looked like a vehicle barrier to block undead as Hoffman suggested, there were no signs of battle in front of the barricade.

There were no corpses of undead or humans between the cars parked in front of the barricade.

The barricade before us wasn’t as densely packed as the ones we saw in the commercial district.

This barricade seemed designed to stop vehicles rather than undead.

“It’s not meant to stop the undead.”

At my words, Hoffman sighed and drew his sword.

“If not undead, there’s only one possibility.”

Before Hoffman could finish speaking, people appeared on top of the large vehicles.

“Stop right there! Move and you’re dead!”

One of the men on top of the buses and trucks shouted at us.

“Welcome! It’s been a while since we’ve had guests!”

The man who shouted looked surprisingly ordinary.

However, his words were extremely crude.

“Holy shit! What kind of crazy b*st*rds are these! I’ve seen plenty wrapped in books, but this is the first time seeing someone in real armor!”

He laughed maniacally while looking at me.

The others with him did the same.

“Still, it might be pretty useful. Hey! Where’d you get that armor! Rob a museum or something?”

Those who were laughing and shouting at me all turned their attention away at one person’s words.

“Wait, that woman is incredibly beautiful!”

“Damn, what luck. We’ve only been getting ugly looking men and old folks.”

As people gaped at Zahina, the man who had shouted first yelled again.

“Everyone be careful! Don’t kill the woman! Anyone who kills her will die by my hand, not to mention the boss!”

This time he wasn’t speaking to us.

Ridiculously, everyone nodded frantically, seemingly agreeing with his words.

After watching their trashy behavior, I started moving again.

I had watched to see if my expectations might be wrong, but it was exactly as I’d anticipated.

Having confirmed enough, there was no reason to play along with their nonsense anymore.

When I moved, the shouting man pointed his weapon at me.

“Damn it! Didn’t you hear me? I said don’t move! Can’t you see what I’m holding? Move another step and I’ll shoot!”

While others held handmade spears and swords, he was holding a gun.

A proper rifle, specifically a K2 rifle.

“Too bad. That armor probably helped you avoid zombies to get here.”

He mocked my armor while holding his gun.

Having a gun explained his arrogant behavior.

But he shouldn’t have done that.

“He’s insane. Mocking a knight.”

Hoffman was dumbfounded looking at the man.

After briefly watching the man mock me, I opened my pocket.

I took out K2 rifles and gave them to my two companions. No need for sniper rifles when dealing with people.

“Leave that one alive.”

After instructing the two, I drew my sword.

“Good Lord! They have guns!”

When I handed the guns to my companions, chaos erupted on the opposite side.

People immediately ducked down on the vehicles, and the man with the gun shouted backward.

“Damn it! So it wasn’t just armor! Quickly, tell the boss!”

Like those hiding, both Hoffman and Zahina took cover behind cars with their guns.

I continued walking toward them with my sword drawn.

“You crazy b*st*rd! If you had guns, you should have said so earlier!”

As I approached, he shouted again. He seemed to be quite an angry person.

“This ruins any chance of negotiation!”

Still raging, he muttered quietly while aiming his gun at me.

“Damn, and we’re low on ammo.”

‘So that’s why he kept talking.’

Bang! Ping!

With the gunshot, the bullet ricocheted off my helmet’s lowered visor.

“What! The bullets don’t work? That’s impossible! It’s not even military-grade, no, even military helmets wouldn’t be this intact!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

More gunshots followed his surprised voice.

Ping! Ping! Ping!

And bullets ricocheted with small impacts.

The armor itself was sturdy, but it also contained my mana.

Armor infused with mana that could block powerful undead attacks would certainly stop bullets.

Though he saw the bullets couldn’t penetrate the armor, the man couldn’t stop shooting.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Damn it! Damn it!”

Click, Click!

The gunshots continued briefly before stopping. He had run out of bullets.

“We… we need to run…”

At this sight, people tried to flee.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

They weren’t the only ones with guns.

Those who tried to stand and run fell one by one from gunshots, while those on top of the vehicles remained frozen, lying flat.

I leaped onto the bus.

Some people instinctively thrust their spears at me when I suddenly appeared on the bus, but they didn’t realize I had swung my sword as I landed.

Before their spears could reach me, their lives were cut short.

I methodically dealt with those lying on the bus.

None of them probably knew what had killed them.

While I cleared the bus, gunshots rang out from the trucks and buses on both sides.

It was the sound of my party members who had followed me onto the vehicle wall, dealing with the people.

Seeing even Zahina not holding back, it seemed she was angered by their words.

Soon, only one person remained from those who had been on top of the vehicle wall.

The man with the gun. He put down his weapon and bowed his head to me.

“Please… please spare me. It was all the boss’s orders.”

Such predictable words.

I asked him.

“You’ve been robbing people here?”

“Yes. It was all under the boss’s orders.”

He quickly answered my question.

Then I pointed to the cars parked in front of the vehicle wall.

“All these cars belong to people you’ve victimized, right?”

At my words, he rolled his eyes side to side while still lying down.

“Ah… yes… that’s right. But some people are still alive. They’re living with us at the rest area!”

At his words, I looked at the large building behind the vehicle wall. As he said, there was a huge modern rest area beside the road.

Turning back, I couldn’t help but smirk at the small hope in his eyes.

“The survivors must be young women or those willing to join your robbery.”

“No, that’s…”

He couldn’t respond to my words.

To his trembling form, I asked one final question.

“Why did you choose to rob people here specifically?”

“Because we couldn’t go further down due to zombies and skeletons…”

It seemed undead hordes had settled in the area below.

“So you settled here and killed people who came after you.”

“That was… for survival! We couldn’t go back, and we ran out of food!”

The same excuse I’d always heard.

I thrust my sword into the back of the pleading man.

The man died, and I looked up at the darkened sky.

A clear sky where even tiny stars were visible.

In that sky, a small twinkling star, no, a satellite was passing by.

“The ground is a mess, but the satellites seem fine. Wonder if that’s a GPS satellite.”

After looking up at the sky, I lowered my gaze to the rest area.

“Time to finish this.”

With no other interference, we couldn’t leave without dealing with those who had become our enemies.

“We’ll rest at that rest area tonight.”

We climbed down from the vehicle wall and headed toward the rest area.

And above us, a satellite was recording our movement toward the rest area.