Absolute Dweller-Chapter 177

The reaction from the crowd was explosive.

Far beyond what Park Sae-rom had expected.

"I swear my loyalty!"

"Me too! I'll do whatever you say! Just please, give me some chicken...!"

"Move aside! That chicken is mine!"

The suppressed madness was returning.

As people rushed forward, the situation quickly turned dangerous.

"D-Don't push!"

"Stop it!"

"Kyaaah!"

Of course, all of it came to a halt with a single command from Park Sae-rom.

"You dumbasses, STOP! If you act like this, all of you are starving tonight!"

The half-mad, starving people instantly became obedient at just her words.

This was precisely why she had chosen to take control in such a dramatic fashion.

People in extreme situations like this lost their reason over the smallest things.

She could never afford to show even a hint of weakness.

Back in Ulsan, when she had gone around gathering survivors, she had encountered similar situations several times.

Every single time, problems arose whenever people thought they could underestimate her.

Even if they didn’t attack her, they often ended up injuring each other fighting over food.

"Anyone who causes injuries tonight will not eat."

For some reason, acting like a crazy woman seemed to make people obey her more readily.

"Alright. Form a line. No unnecessary injuries."

As the chaos settled, desperate voices started to rise from different corners of the room.

Not from the people who could still stand and approach her, but from their families and caretakers—those watching over individuals too weak to move on their own.

"Over here...! I'll do anything, please, just save my husband!"

Hearing that, Park Sae-rom turned to the two men who had sworn loyalty first and were now shoving chicken into their mouths like starving wolves.

"You two."

The men snapped their heads up, still chewing.

"I'm leaving the food here. You’re in charge of distributing it properly."

"Yes, ma’am!"

"Understood!"

She placed more food on the ground from her inventory and then immediately used Shadow Step.

She reappeared next to the voice of the desperate woman.

"Excuse me."

The woman flinched, startled by her sudden arrival from the darkness. She stammered,

"W-Who are you...?"

Ignoring her, Park Sae-rom first examined the man lying on the ground.

She had done this countless times in Ulsan. It took her just moments to assess his condition.

"Dehydration."

His pulse was normal, and his breathing, though weak, was still there.

‘Not critical.’

Just then, the man stirred, slowly opening his eyes.

"Ugh..."

"You're awake?"

"...Who are you?"

Instead of answering, she took out an electrolyte drink from her inventory and carefully pressed it to his lips.

"It's an electrolyte drink. Can you drink?"

He nodded weakly, as if in a trance, and surprisingly, he drank without much trouble.

After confirming he had swallowed a few sips, she handed the rest to the woman beside him.

"Let him drink it slowly. You too. And..."

She dug through her inventory and pulled out a pack of soup.

It was already preheated to a comfortable, edible temperature.

"As hungry as he may be, he should avoid anything too heavy right now. Take your time eating this."

The moment the woman received the warm mushroom soup, tears welled up in her eyes, and she began bowing repeatedly.

"Thank you, thank you so much."

All around them, people held their breath, watching.

Straightening up, Park Sae-rom asked,

"Is there anyone else in critical condition? If someone has lost consciousness, speak up immediately."

A weak voice answered.

"Here..."

She turned to see a man barely holding himself up.

"What’s wrong?"

"Food... please..."

He was weak, but he could still speak.

She pulled out a soft castella cake and a bottle of milk, handing them over.

"Me too... please...!"

As she moved from person to person, no one interfered.

Everyone with the strength to move had already followed the scent of chicken toward the emergency exit.

But of course—

She couldn't save everyone.

'...Dead.'

Some people had already stopped breathing.

'Too severe.'

Others were beyond what she could handle.

And—

'There's not enough supplies.'

She had given away all the easily digestible food, yet there were still so many who needed help.

Just then—

'Huh?'

More basic survival kits began filling the empty space in her inventory—kits specifically designed for crisis relief.

‘Jaehyun-nim is watching.’

And not just that.

IV fluids, nutrient injections—the kind used for severe malnutrition patients—were appearing too.

‘As expected, Jaehyun-nim!’

With this, she could do much more.

Having been through so many rescue operations, she had even learned to administer IVs.

But in this pitch-black environment, even she would struggle.

'Just a second should be fine.'

She took out her smartphone.

Just as she did—

[This is Kim Jaehyun.]

A video message, not an audio recording, began playing.

‘I'll check it later.’

She paused the video and focused on what she needed to do.

"Hey, Bixby. Lumos."

Beep—♪

The moment her phone's flashlight turned on—

"Light?!"

"N-No!"

"Danger—!"

Despite the murmurs of concern around her, Park Sae-rom silenced them with a single sentence.

"Shut up for a second. I need to save this guy."

The room went still.

Thankfully, his veins were visible enough that inserting the IV wasn’t difficult.

She slid the needle in, watched for blood return, then immediately put away her phone.

As the light disappeared, a collective sigh of relief filled the air.

Ignoring them, she finished attaching the IV drip and administered a vitamin shot. Then she turned to the man who had flinched the most at the sight of the light and gave him an order.

"If you’re done eating, hold this for me."

"...Me?"

"Unless you don’t want to receive anything from me ever again."

"N-No! How high should I hold it?"

"Like this."

With everything settled, she had done all she could for now.

Now all that's left is to hope he pulls through.

Using Shadow Step, she moved back outside to the emergency exit.

There, people were eating peacefully.

"This is the first pizza I’ve had in forever."

"Any more cola left?"

"Here."

People were regaining their senses as they filled their stomachs.

Standing among them, Park Sae-rom raised her voice.

"Everyone, listen up."

Eyes turned to her.

Unlike before, ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) they were filled with gratitude.

How could they not be?

They had seen her going around, helping the critically ill, doing everything she could to save them.

She took out all the relief supplies from her inventory and placed them on the ground.

"Emergency provisions. There’s porridge, bread, bananas. This should last you for a few days at least."

The reactions were completely different from before.

"We appreciate it, but what about you? If you give everything to us, what are you going to eat?"

"Yeah, girl, aren’t you being too generous? Are you sure you’re keeping enough for yourself?"

Some were even worried about her now.

"You don’t need to worry. I have plenty."

This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.

Of course, that was under the assumption that Kim Jaehyun would keep resupplying her.

To prove it, she emptied her inventory again, displaying another batch of newly replenished goods.

"There are still many people in bad condition. Those of you who are doing better need to help distribute these."

Having eaten enough to regain some strength, people nodded and got up.

They used lighters to check the contents of the emergency packs and began passing them out.

One man turned to her and asked,

"Miss, why’d you suddenly start speaking formally?"

Without hesitation, she replied.

"Because all of you looked like monsters when you were about to steal a chocolate bar from a kid."

"......."

"I don’t need to speak politely to monsters, do I? If I had, you’d have thought I was a pushover. And if I looked weak, as soon as I pulled out that chicken, you would’ve torn each other apart, and someone would have gotten hurt."

"...That’s true."

Some people flinched at her blunt assessment, guilt flashing across their faces.

"If anyone had actually attacked that guy, I was planning to make an example out of a few of you."

"...Ahem. I should go distribute these now."

The man who had been acting tough with her earlier quickly backed down and walked away.

Tsk tsk.

She shook her head dramatically, making sure her voice was loud enough for everyone to hear.

"If I spoke politely from the start, they’d already be trying to walk all over me."

The unspoken warning was clear.

"Still, that guy’s better than the ones who are just sitting there doing nothing after eating."

As if on cue, the ones lounging around got up and started helping.

Satisfied, she turned toward Song Tae-young and his family.

"Hey, old man. How’s the food?"

"...It’s good. I’ll get back to work as soon as the kids finish eating."

"No, you and I have unfinished business."

"...Huh?"

"Earlier, you mentioned there were a few ways to get out of here. Tell me the details."

"Ah... right."

Song Tae-young nodded and began explaining.

"As I said before, there’s a rumor that we can escape by reaching the edge of this area. But it's not confirmed. Some say it’s just a dead end."

"And?"

"In the center of this world, where the industrial complex is located, there's supposedly a Shadow Castle. Some people think there's a way out there... but it’s too dangerous."

Park Sae-rom frowned.

"What’s so dangerous about it?"

"...The closer you get to the center, the stronger the shadow creatures become. And their numbers increase."

As soon as he said that, something clicked in her mind.

‘Come to think of it, the shadow wolves I fought first were way stronger.’

The shadow birds she encountered with Song Tae-young were much weaker.

They were slower, and their explosions upon death weren’t as powerful.

‘So that first area must have been closer to the center.’

If the Shadow Castle was truly the heart of this world, then the closer she got, the stronger the monsters would be.

Which meant...

‘Is this place basically a dungeon?’

If she applied game logic, maybe defeating the boss of the castle would open an escape route.

‘It’s possible. But can I handle that thing alone?’

Honestly... she wasn’t confident.

She lacked experience in monster hunting.

As a retainer, most of her duties involved either standing guard at the Ulsan outpost or making contact with survivors.

‘The boss is probably stupidly strong...’

Her expression turned serious.

"Alright. I need to step out for a bit."

Once she was far enough from the others, she pulled out her smartphone.

Time to finally watch the video she had been too busy to check earlier.

["Sae-rom, I’ve received your report—"]

As the video played, her face gradually brightened.

Because—

["We’ll come get you. Just hang in there."]

Jaehyun had promised to rescue her.

‘I just have to wait!’

But—

Life never goes according to plan.