Chapter 144

Chapter 144

Chapter 144 – Savior (5)

Upon learning about the deeds of the Republic of Korea’s self-important leaders, I sat through a lengthy conversation regarding the current state of affairs in Seoul and its internal power dynamics.

The situation in the capital was far more critical than I had anticipated.

Following my discussion with Commander Lee Hak-gi, I had a distinct, pre-arranged meeting to attend.

“Is this where we are going?”

“Yes. This is the newly restored bathhouse that is scheduled to launch shortly.”

Kim Dabin had taken the lead on dozens of initiatives, ranging from daily essentials, the rehabilitation of communication lines, local business recovery, job creation, aid for displaced citizens, to property reconstruction. It would be far more difficult to locate an area she had not had a hand in than to list the ones she had.

The bathhouse standing before me was simply one of many outcomes born of her dedication.

“Quite impressive. But why construct this here instead of Seomyeon?”

“We chose to prioritize the largest bathhouse facility that had sustained the least amount of structural damage. As you know well, the majority of the public bathhouses in Seomyeon were severely ruined…”

“Understood. Excellent work.”

As fate would have it, this was a venue with which I was deeply familiar.

‘Haesupia, of all places.’

It was a structure located merely a five-minute stroll from my family’s old residence.

Glancing to the side, I could spot the World Tree.

Its height of several hundred meters was already breathtaking, but its trunk was so massive that it could easily swallow an entire residential block.

Furthermore, even though this spot was hundreds of meters from where the World Tree had first sprouted, its titanic roots had stretched all the way to this very ground.

The surrounding territory was now so densely blanketed with trees that it was difficult to discern whether this was a modern metropolis or a wild woodland.

Consequently, the sight of Haesupia, nestled amidst the thick foliage, felt incredibly familiar yet entirely alien at the same time.

The building itself was undoubtedly the exact bathhouse I had visited regularly since my youth, yet the landscape around it had been utterly transformed.

“Shall we head inside?”

In contrast to the exterior walls of the building, which were blanketed in creeping ivy and wild greenery, the wide flight of steps leading to the main doors was impeccably clean and cleared.

At the summit of the stairs, the front reception desk stood exactly as it had in the past.

Walking up beside me, Kim Dabin remarked,

“Remarkably, not only did the exterior escape harm, but the internal facilities survived intact as well. Because of that, the footwear lockers, change rooms, and even the original wrist keys were fully functional, meaning we didn’t have to source any replacements.”

The moment she finished speaking, the receptionist behind the counter retrieved a key for the men’s section and offered it to me.

“I-It is an absolute honor to meet you!”

I offered a gentle smile to the anxious worker, and a soft, pleasant chime echoed in my mind.

[Citizen Choi Ji-woo’s Trust has increased.] [Citizen Choi Ji-woo’s Loyalty has increased.]

These alerts regarding rising trust and loyalty had been appearing continuously for quite some time now.

Under normal circumstances, it was never this frequent or intense.

Merely making eye contact or exchanging brief pleasantries wouldn’t typically cause these metrics to spike so dramatically.

If that were the case, every single excursion outside would result in absolute pandemonium.

Yet, when I went out for a meal or walked along the streets, things remained perfectly peaceful.

This phenomenon was occurring now because people finally recognized my true identity.

Those who understood that I was the master of this territory, that I was ‘Kim Jae-hyun,’ were the ones who reacted in this manner.

Guided by Kim Dabin, I made my way up to the men’s bath on the third floor.

Noticing that she continued to walk alongside me, I paused and inquired,

“…Are you planning to accompany me inside the bath itself?”

Kim Dabin replied with a straight face,

“I will assist you with your bathing.”

“……”

She had to be referring to that specific type of service.

The kind depicted in period dramas and films—where attendants bathe a nobleman or a member of royalty, dry them down, and assist them with their garments.

Suddenly, Kim Dabin let out a playful smirk.

“I was merely teasing.”

“I-I assumed as much.”

“Though, if it is your command, I would be more than willing to—”

“No, thank you.”

I swiftly cut off her jesting and stepped through the entrance of the bathhouse.

Navigating down a broad corridor of polished marble, I arrived at a locker room containing hundreds of compartments.

‘Number 333.’

Locating the compartment bearing that number, I placed my clothing inside, secured the key band around my left wrist, and walked toward the bathing area.

Passing the mirrors in the locker room, I caught a glimpse of my own reflection.

A perfectly sculpted physique with lean, defined muscle.

The soft, unremarkable build I once carried had vanished, replaced by an exceptional form that commanded attention.

‘I suppose this is the result of gradual accumulation.’

The rewards from my daily quests had steadily enhanced my physical attributes, shaping my frame into its current state.

‘Not bad at all.’

Opening the heavy door to the baths, a thick cloud of warm, moist air enveloped me, soothing my skin.

Haesupia featured numerous pools, each expansive enough to easily hold a dozen individuals at once.

Enjoying such a massive space entirely by myself gave me a grand sense of luxury.

After washing off under a shower stream, I slipped into a steaming hot pool where a stone toad sculpture poured water from its mouth.

As a pleasant warmth surged from my toes throughout my entire body, my tense muscles relaxed completely.

“Haa…”

A long sigh of comfort escaped me.

Since no one else had used the pool, the water was pristine.

“Ah, this is wonderful.”

My mother and grandmother, who both loved hot springs and baths, would truly cherish a place like this.

Floating in the soothing water, surrounded by the quiet of the empty room, a comfortable sleepiness began to wash over me.

‘Perhaps… just a brief rest…’

As the rising mist drifted over my face, I gently closed my eyes.

Srrrk.

‘…I beg of you…’

‘We… please save us…’

‘I want to go home…’

‘Deliver us!’

‘Please, just let my baby live!’

‘Someone is trapped under the debris over here!’

‘Please!’

‘Aaaaah!’

‘Save us! Help!’

‘I despise you! I will curse you even from the grave!’

My eyes flew open.

The gentle splashing of the water from the toad sculpture was the only sound echoing in the room.

I slowly raised a wet hand from the warm pool and wiped the moisture from my face.

[Dabin, how long has it been?]

[Roughly ten minutes. Is everything alright?]

[Yes, I simply drifted off for a brief moment.]

Feeling the warm water cradling his frame, he tilted his head back and stared up at the ceiling.

‘That same dream again.’

A dark vision filled with anonymous, pleading voices echoing in the void.

He could not identify who they belonged to.

Were they the cries of the souls he had encountered during the tragedy in Jamsil? The pleas of refugees desperate for salvation? The screams of those hunted by beasts?

‘Or were they the voices of those who perished by my own hand?’

If not that, perhaps they were merely auditory hallucinations conjured by his own conscience.

‘I believed I had steeled myself, but perhaps my resolve was still lacking.’

When the time had come to eliminate the fanatical followers of the JHS, he had hesitated repeatedly. Perhaps his determination was still incomplete.

He had never set out to be a savior to every single person.

Concepts like righteousness and wickedness were entirely subjective, shifting depending on where one stood.

To the 144,000 citizens who were nearly slaughtered as sacrifices for Jung Hyun-soo, he was undeniably a savior. But to Jung Hyun-soo and his devoted disciples, he was surely no different from death itself.

‘Hundreds of lives ended because of my judgment.’

He had no intention of making excuses, claiming it was an unavoidable tragedy.

Those individuals were wiped out solely due to the choice he made.

And that was not an isolated incident.

To the vampires, he was undoubtedly a terrifying scourge. To the monsters, he was the embodiment of damnation.

‘That reality will not change going forward.’

He would continue to slay monsters, execute vampires, and destroy zombies.

Even if they had once been human, even if they were merely trying to survive—it altered nothing.

The same rule applied to other humans.

He would make difficult decisions, and as a consequence of those decisions, people would die.

‘Given the state of Seoul that Commander Lee Hak-gi outlined, I will have to take many lives during the reclamation of the city.’

There would likely even be losses among his own ranks.

Just as in the conflict with the vampires, he might have to oversee funerals once more.

Even so, he fully intended to march down the path he believed to be correct.

There was no time for doubt—not when the lives of 500,000 people hung on his actions.

‘A mere bad dream like this…’

It could not sway him in the slightest.

After lingering in thought for a brief moment, he stood up, stepped out of the steaming pool, and dried his skin with a fresh towel.

Though his rest had been brief, his exhaustion had completely vanished.

The hot bath certainly played a part, but more than anything, it was due to his boosted constitution.

The minor enhancements accumulated from his daily tasks, coupled with Oh Eon-ju’s specialized trait, Primordial Vitality, had elevated his physical state to that of a superhuman.

Primordial Vitality was an attribute that significantly accelerated recovery the more physical damage he sustained.

‘I haven’t suffered any real injuries lately, so I haven’t experienced its full potential in battle.’

However, it was not restricted to physical wounds—it also applied to sheer exhaustion.

The more energy he expended, the more Primordial Vitality worked to restore his spent reserves.

So long as his mind remained resolute, his stamina was virtually boundless.

Because of this, even a tiny ten-minute rest was more than enough to fully revitalize him.

After dressing in his clean clothes, he stepped out into the hallway where Kim Dabin was waiting.

It appeared she had been standing patiently near the elevator the entire time he was inside.

“You finished quite quickly.”

“I have always been fast with these things.”

“I see. How was your experience?”

“It was excellent. Honestly, it looks completely prepared to open to the public this very day.”

“Thank you.”

As Kim Dabin guided him back down toward the front desk, he inquired,

“By the way, are there no similar facilities in Seomyeon? I recall there being a highly regarded bathhouse in Dongnae.”

“The Toyong are currently working diligently on rebuilding one.”

The Toyong.

These entities, resembling roughly sculpted clay automatons, were the result of upgrading his Absolute Dweller’s Restoration skill to Level 2.

Each unit required an immense sum of 300 million won to create, and he had summoned 30 of them in total. They had proven to be incredibly efficient at rebuilding the devastated city.

“Understood. Try not to push them too hard. After all, they take after a leader who works day and night. They might collapse unexpectedly.”

He teased, and Kim Dabin matched his tone easily.

“I won’t be collapsing. I’ve moved past the mindset that I must handle every single task on my own.”

“That is reassuring to hear.”

“A few of them have just wrapped up their current assignments. Should I grant them a rest? Perhaps offer them some sweets as a reward?”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea.”

As they continued their lighthearted banter, a sudden realization struck him.

“Oh?”

It was a concept that had occupied his mind just before his encounter with Commander Lee Hak-gi.

‘What if I could utilize the Toyong to advance the grade of the Job Research Center?’

He turned to face Kim Dabin instantly.

“Dabin, where are the unassigned Toyong located right now?”

“…Over at the Daeyeon-dong apartment complex. Did something happen?”

“I have an urgent experiment to conduct.”

Taking three Toyong along with him, he made his way directly to the Job Research Center situated in Seomyeon.

The very instant he arrived—

[To upgrade this facility, 3 Toyong will be required for a construction period of 7 days.]

[Would you like to upgrade the Job Research Center to Level 2?]

[Yes / No]

‘Begin.’

[3,000,000,000 won will be consumed.]

He had discovered the way.