Marauder of the Apocalypse
Chapter 126: Karma

=============================== DMCA NOTICE ================================

Heya guys!

We've received a double dmca (Novelpia + Kakao) and as a result, I'll be taking down all korean novels from the site and possibly the site as well.

I'll be posting the 5 chapters scheduled for this week right now, 5 minutes after the other. So you've got 5 more chaps to to read. I've compiled the posted chapters into a .txt file and a .epub file available in the discord. These files and all the novels on the site will be taken down on Thursday.

So what's next? I'll be looking at CN and JP novels this week. I haven't read one in almost a decade at this point but hopefully they've improved since then. If I find publishers/novels I like, that'll be the next step. If not, then that might be it.

I'm feeling pretty motivated, thinking I'll use this as an opportunity to make a brand new site with proper systems in place (assuming I find things I like in the CN/JP section). I made this site 2 years ago from youtube tutorials when I was learning how to code and while I've made adjustments here and there, the foundation is still from back then. I love it but it's ass.

8589 chapters. 43 novels. Thank you everyone for being part of the community. It was a lot of fun and I hope to see some of you in the discord or maybe on the new site if I decide to do it.

See ya, enjoy the chappies! Oh and some have talked to me about not being able to find the discord link. Never made it more visible till the end... It is just above this message and is part of the text. You'll see a nice orange 'Here,' blue if you use light mode(bleh).

-raei

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Risks needed to be managed.

Every day, I walked around the townhouse perimeter, investigating the natural environment and signs of human presence. What natural dangers existed, how many people visited this mountain.

The results of my investigation weren't particularly good.

I climbed to the rooftop of my house and sat in a chair.

"There are no trees nearby, so that's fine..."

The trees near the townhouse had all been cut down. The former residents had felled them for firewood. Perhaps it was also a wildfire prevention measure.

But the fallen leaves piled high on the mountainside were drying out, ripening as fuel for a fire.

If a fire broke out, it could easily spread to the townhouse.

There was also the people problem.

'No one is coming here.'

Was it because of our gunfire during the battle? No one was coming to the mountain. This meant there were no customers for us mountain bandits to raid. This was no small problem.

Raiders needed to raid. Without raiding, they would slowly die. Resources that couldn't be replenished, dulling mental states. A raiding organization that couldn't even maintain its position would fall back.

I glanced at the house with the solar power generator.

Noise that was hard to distinguish between movies and music blared loudly, piercing through the windows to reach my ears.

A peaceful scene of people enjoying civilization without restraint in a safely enclosed environment.

"This isn't good."

I frowned deeply and pressed my head. We couldn't let ourselves become this lax.

You know how they say that when transporting live fish, placing a predator with them keeps them lively and healthy? People, being animals too, needed appropriate stress and tension.

I counted potential tension-creating factors on my fingers.

'The alliance. They might come after us when their resources run low. Survivors we failed to kill. Could survivors from the stream area or townhouse come seeking revenge? Forest fires are too dangerous.'

These factors weren't things I could control.

The best option would be fighting with nearby survivors... but there were no survivors in sight. Not being near a stream, and with the weather not yet cold enough to require much firewood.

As I was pondering this, the rooftop door opened and someone entered. I reflexively gripped the pistol in my chest and turned my head.

"Who is it?"

"It's me."

It was Jeon Do-hyung. He approached while looking at some paper with writing on it and spoke lightly.

"I made a checklist and inspected all the house facilities. No problems anywhere. The people here must have really maintained things well. But there's something strange."

I blinked. Was this a risk factor? News that would inject tension into our loose peace?

As I looked at Jeon Do-hyung with anticipation, he uncomfortably avoided my gaze and lowered the paper.

"The real estate guy said every house originally had solar power generators installed, right? But only one remains."

"That's right. Weren't they removed because they broke down?"

"No. They've disappeared as if someone collected them. Mr. Park Yang-gun searched all the houses thoroughly and couldn't find a single generator product."

In that case... After thinking briefly, I immediately spoke.

"It means they were either sold or taken. Probably by the alliance."

The alliance that had plastered buildings in the survival zone with solar generators. I'd wondered where they got so many generators—apparently they'd looted them from various places.

Jeon Do-hyung spoke in a worried voice.

"This place might be connected to an organization affiliated with the alliance. Supplying harvested crops."

"More specifically, the Delivery Vigilantes."

RiderZero, who valued good. Using motorcycles for a wide range of activity, connecting various places. A person opposite to me.

Jeon Do-hyung took out a small notebook.

"It doesn't say who they dealt with, but there's a ledger showing transactions."

"Ah, I see. What's the transaction cycle?"

"They should be coming in a few days."

This wasn't a big problem. The Delivery Vigilantes would be a threat if I fell, but they didn't threaten me at this point.

'Should I expand our operation range? Use bicycles for raiding parties?'

I tapped my thigh, lost in thought, while Jeon Do-hyung continued his report.

"Apart from that, the electrical appliances are... very good, except for the internet and TV not working."

"What about Mr. Park Yang-gun and Sa Gi-hyeok?"

"They're busy. One's checking supplies for fair distribution, and that con artist is meeting people and actively assigning tasks and departments."

Finding people who knew wild vegetables and could gather them since we were near mountains, or forming teams to collect firewood, or preparing for farming.

Things were truly going smoothly. We were following the steps to abandon being raiders and become ordinary survivor organization.

Even my companions had started wanting non-essential resources. Jeon Do-hyung pointed to the solar-powered house and said:

"Oh, and there's talk about going out to find music CDs or movie CDs. Or maybe gaming consoles."

Were they really that well-fed? How many days had passed for them to say such things?

Just then, a loud clanging sound rang out. It was from the watchtower. The guard was frantically ringing the alarm. News of an intruder.

I jumped up, drawing my pistol.

"Let's go."

***

As we ran across the townhouse, companions emerged from houses with weapons in hand. They shouted to me with wary expressions.

"What's happening?"

"Seems we have a visitor."

Since there were no gunshots, it wasn't an immediate threat. Just someone unidentified paying a visit.

I glanced at my companions and thought. Their response time wasn't bad. They hadn't grown rusty yet. But I couldn't let things stay this way.

'Please be an enemy. Please be a raider.'

How long had I been running, desperately hoping the intruder was an attacker? I arrived at the main entrance and peeked out from behind the barricade.

There was a rider there. A member of the Delivery Vigilantes.

'So the townhouse people really were connected to RiderZero's group.'

I couldn't fathom how many connections they had established. From what I knew alone, there were the market street children and the hiking club where Park Yang-gun's family had been.

At this level, wasn't it practically a spider web? Even though the Delivery Vigilantes couldn't produce anything themselves, they seemed to make a comfortable living as intermediaries.

The rider, with hands raised in surrender holding a metal pipe, stood still before turning a helmeted head to look at me.

"..."

"Delivery Vigilantes? What brings you here?"

No answer came. The rider stared at me, frozen like a statue. I smiled and spoke playfully.

"Ah, were these people your clients too? Sorry, but your clients are gone. They all died somehow."

The rider clenched a fist tightly. The gloves tightened with a creaking sound. Given our antagonistic relationship, this was hardly surprising. Those children they had supported had died by our hands, and now this had happened.

A moment later, a youthful voice like that of a student came from behind the helmet. It sounded like an unconscious mutter.

"Found you. So you were here."

"What?"

Had they come looking for me? Not to trade with the townhouse?

The rider lowered both hands and spoke slowly.

"It's true I came to trade crops with the people who lived here. But it's also true that we found you. The alliance figured out where you moved to."

"..."

I narrowed my eyes and looked at the rider.

There was some logic to it. The movement of a group armed with military weapons would be a concern for the alliance. But it didn't seem to be such a simple matter. I aimed my pistol. I tilted the pistol slightly.

"Take off your helmet."

"I'm not wearing a mask."

I casually pulled the trigger, aiming at the empty air. The gunshot rang out, and the bullet grazed the motorcycle as it passed.

"Should I kill you and check afterward?"

The rider's hands trembled before slowly removing the helmet. What was revealed was the face of a defiant teenager. The hair was short, the eyes full of hostility and wariness, and the mouth covered with a mask.

A teenager. This makes me laugh.

'A survivor from the market street? One of the kids we failed to kill?'

The teacher and children who had lived together in the market street. We had killed everyone inside the building back then. But it was entirely possible for someone who had been outside to have survived.

I gestured for the rider to come closer and said lightly:

"You don't seem to be an adult. Don't you wear a school uniform?"

"There's no reason to wear a school uniform."

"That's a good idea. I hate school uniforms. I feel like hunting down and killing anyone wearing one."

The emotion in the rider's eyes seemed to intensify. I added weight to my suspicion that this awkward rider was a survivor.

'So RiderZero took in the surviving kids.'

They had been cultivating avengers while waiting for my downfall. Quite an impressive strategy. Taking in people who had lost everything and raising them as fighters. They had easily secured forces that were easy to manipulate.

"Well. What did you come to trade? According to the ledger, the trading day isn't for a few more days."

"I was told to ask if you could outsource farming."

"Is the alliance in trouble?"

The rider was silent for a moment before speaking slowly.

"Yes. The streams are drying up. I heard water is scarce."

Good. Everything was good. Conditions were developing for the alliance to transform into raiders, and my karma was coming back to me.

The worry I had felt until just now about my companions growing lax cleared up refreshingly.

I aimed at the head of the rider who had approached closer beyond the barricade.

"Let me ask you one thing. Answer honestly."

"Yes."

Like an inexperienced minor, the rider tried to hide their emotions but failed to conceal their hostility. I smirked and asked briefly.

"How many survived?"

"What?"

"The kids living in the market street. How many survived?"

The rider's eyes wavered. The rider told a clumsy lie.

"I didn't live in the market street, so I don't know."

"Even if you didn't live there, you should know."

I quietly applied pressure to my finger. My companions didn't try to stop me and remained still.

"There must be survivors. Back then, we only killed one group of scavengers and the people waiting in the building. And naturally, the Delivery Vigilantes would have taken care of the survivors. You should at least know about them."

A chuckle escaped me.

"Why wouldn't you know? Unless you're hiding it because you're one of those survivors?"

"Fuck you!"

At close range. Did the rider think death was inevitable anyway? The rider revealed their true colors, swinging the pipe, but it was slower than the speed of my trigger finger.

Bang, a gunshot rang out. The bullet, aimed at the head, pierced the neck, and the avenger collapsed lifelessly. Blood spurted out, coloring the barricade.

It was truly autumn. A season for harvesting karma.

I turned to look at my companions.

"It seems various avengers remain. Let's not let our guard down and stay vigilant."