Chapter 45 – The safest place

It would be great to build a Mana Facility in the castle of the Main Base, where the defenses are already complete. Unfortunately, that would be inefficient.

The reason was as follows.

A Mana Facility is a structure that extracts and refines mana from the atmosphere. Naturally, this lowers the mana concentration in the vicinity.

In other words, building them close together would not only decrease mana production efficiency but could also make the mana concentration around the castle too low.

With the number of Ability Users living in the Fortified City increasing, it was already a struggle to grow their power and expand the faction; this would only hinder that process.

On the other hand, it might have been acceptable to build a Mana Facility in a dungeon that was close by and easy to access. But that, too, was inefficient.

The mana production of a Mana Facility depends on the amount of mana in the atmosphere, and the mana within dungeons remains largely unchanged.

Ultimately, compared to Earth, where the mana concentration continues to rise, the mana quantity in the first dungeon was now lower than that of Earth. The mana quantity in the Desert was slightly higher than Earth’s, but it was expected to be caught up soon.

In short, it lagged behind in terms of growth potential.

Despite this, since it is the Mother Dimension of the Monsters, once more intelligent Monsters begin to appear later on, the defense difficulty will rise to the level of Earth, despite the low mana quantity.

There might be dimensions with environments even more livable than Earth, but that is why people do not establish permanent settlements within dungeons.

At most, they mine ore, hunt for Mana Stones, or clear a small plot of farmland to cultivate briefly during the winter.

While things might change later when resources are abundant, for now, efficiency dictated that it must be built on Earth. If so, there were several other points to consider.

First, since it couldn’t be built adjacent to the Main Base, new Defensive Facilities had to be constructed in a new area, and troops had to be stationed there consistently.

Additionally, thanks to the Defense Battles, the Monsters in the vicinity of the facility would be cleared out. This would make activities in the surrounding area much easier.

In conclusion, it meant naturally increasing the number of outposts on Earth. It was like a game of territory expansion.

‘In that case… the place to expand is already decided.’

I picked up my smartphone and began dialing a number.

* * *

During the call.

Suddenly, the signal was lost, and we eventually had to communicate through Apoin. The base stations had finally begun to collapse.

‘It eventually comes to this.’

I had expected it, but I felt a strange sense of restlessness.

There were various differences in the strategies chosen by each country, but the method chosen by the Republic of Korea government was unique.

They prioritized the rights of civilians, beginning to protect communication facilities first among the infrastructure. This aligned well with the tech-savvy nature of Korea and had provided significant help.

However… the collapse of those base stations meant that the final line of defense, which the government had tried to protect by giving up everything else, was starting to crumble.

In a way, it was inevitable.

Now was the point where Monsters were no longer coming in small trickles, but were arriving in waves, like a tide.

However, most of humanity’s regular armies, including the National Army, had already accumulated combat fatigue that had nearly reached its limit.

The National Army, in particular…

They were one of the regular armies that had held out the longest in the world.

At this point, only a very small number of countries worldwide still had actual regular armies remaining.

For example, the EU urgently created the European Defense Force, which had caused numerous controversies until now… but only the core nations, such as France and Germany, were barely struggling to survive.

Russia failed to defend its vast Siberian territory and could only watch as massive Nests appeared. Consequently, they were fighting their final stand in the capital, Moscow.

Similarly, due to the sheer volume of forces descending from the Siberian Front, China lost the Northern and Western theaters among its five theater commands. They were trying to survive centered around Shanghai and Beijing… but since those two were not the largest cities on Earth, they were suffering from a terrible shortage of supplies.

North Korea, which had no stockpiles to begin with and could not handle the Monsters swarming from Siberia, had collapsed long ago.

Ironically, this was the reason why most of the National Army had been doing their best to maintain a defensive battle at the DMZ front line.

Not against the North Korean Army, but against the Monsters from Siberia that had begun to move further south.

Meanwhile, amidst all this… there was one country that was performing exceptionally well, uniquely in the world. That country, of course, was the United States.

The United States seemed like a nation born specifically for the Apocalypse.

In terms of defense spending.

China, Saudi Arabia, India, the UK, Germany, Japan, Russia, Korea, France, etc. The US was a country that spent 15% more than the combined expenditures of all countries ranked 2nd to 10th in defense spending.

That was the United States. Despite that, their command’s combat capability and the actual combat experience of their soldiers were flawless…

That strongest military power on Earth.

For the US, it was actually a ‘bonus.’

According to the Second Amendment to the US Constitution.

The right of civilians to bear arms was guaranteed in the US. There were 120 civilian firearms for every 100 citizens in the US, a figure that was overwhelming compared to anywhere else in the world.

However, the Second Amendment was actually focused on legalizing the organization of civilian [Militias] before the right to bear arms. Even before the Apocalypse, there were over 160 militias.

Therefore, after the Apocalypse, it may have been inevitable that militias began to form like mushrooms after rain, with civilian patrols roaming the areas and wiping out Monsters.

Not only was civilian security stabilized…

As shipping and air routes were blocked, they hurriedly moved production facilities located overseas back into the US and began running various munitions factories.

Since everything had to be solved internally, some even said the economy was booming.

Unfortunately, however, even they seemed unable to project influence outside the North American continent.

For instance, the US had originally been providing supplies to allies, including Korea. But even that was put on indefinite hold this time as the air routes were blocked by Aerial Monsters.

This dealt a direct blow to the staggering National Army and was the catalyst for the front lines to begin collapsing. In other words, it was the formalization of societal collapse.

‘Is it slightly delayed compared to my previous life…?’

Since I began intervening in the world, the situation had been improving to some extent. Around this time in my previous life, the situation had been far more terrible.

However, I still couldn’t save everyone.

‘First, I’ll save the places that can be saved.’

The start was the group of survivors in Bucheon who were already under my command.

‘Kierd Soft.’

* * *

Kierd Soft’s main base consisted of large apartment complexes near the Bucheon City Hall. Starting from offices in the vicinity, they had moved into the apartment complexes where most residents lived.

Since they operated based on their own residences, they were relatively more abundant in supplies than other factions.

Recently, backed by my protection, they were able to expand their sphere of influence by seizing the nearby city hall, schools, and department stores.

Accompanied by Kim Mincheol, who acted as the leader of Kierd Soft, I toured their main base and reached an agreement on how to increase the defensive facilities.

“There are quite a lot of people.”

Thanks to Kim Mincheol’s ability, it was evident that they were a ‘society’-type group that could rapidly increase their numbers. While this was the method that best preserved humanity, it was also difficult to control and resulted in significant losses in terms of military power and supplies.

For example, they were practically the neighborhood punching bag, getting robbed of power by survivor groups or Looters who gathered around military strength, and getting robbed of supplies by those who gathered around factories, logistics centers, or shopping districts.

“Hahaha, isn’t it? That is our strength.”

Meanwhile, Kim Mincheol laughed heartily at my comment about the large number of people.

‘That’s not necessarily a strength… well, I guess it doesn’t matter.’

I thought to myself.

It wasn’t a strength for them alone, but the situation changed when they allied with me. At the very least, they wouldn’t be pushed back in terms of military power, and they wouldn’t lose out to some extent in terms of economy.

Of course, I could also quickly expand my sphere of influence to fill my lack of manpower and secure more economic power than they had.

Meanwhile, I also had the goal of fully incorporating Bucheon, which could be seen as the gateway between Incheon and Seoul where Choi Seunghwan was located, into my faction. It was about blocking off Incheon.

However, since there were so many people, I thought the construction might take longer than I expected.

Of course… that was my expectation; it was different from their perspective. For instance, Kim Gyeongcheol, a PhD in economics and Kim Mincheol’s younger brother, was aghast.

“Y-you had this many Worker Bugs?”

At his words, Deokchan replied with a smirk.

“Twice as many as this will be coming in the future.”

The Rough Terrain Pioneer was scheduled to be deployed for this construction, and Deokchan’s tension was strangely higher than usual, as if he were delighted.

“Elder, how long will it take?”

“So, you mean from that highway over there to that intersection? Well, even a turtle would get there; about three days should be enough.”

‘Turtle’ was the nickname he used for the Rough Terrain Pioneer.

Gyeongcheol questioned him in response.

“Y-you’re saying you’ll build a wall from here to there in just three days?”

“No~o. I’m saying I’ll build it by going around from here to there.”

It seemed to be a speed that was utterly incomprehensible to Gyeongcheol’s common sense. Deokchan, finding him amusing, continued speaking.

“Well, if you want, should I dig a moat too?”

“No, a moat is not necessary.”

I shook my head at his words. Since Sua wasn’t there, there was no need to dig a moat.

“Alright then. I’ll have it finished within three days.”

Seeing Deokchan immediately set to work, I headed toward the city hall with an excited Mincheol and opened the Mana Facility Rift.

“You can give the next Mana Stone to this guy here.”

I pointed to the Worker Bug that would manage the rift.

“Uh… to this fellow?”

“Yes.”

“Ding!”

This one would be in charge of collecting Mana Stones this time.

* * *

‘In three days, the Mana Facility will be ready… and the defensive facilities should be mostly done.’

Having successfully completed the construction plan to turn Bucheon into an outpost, I headed home. It was around then that the notification from the Observation Probe rang.

[Observation Probe (Unit 11): Requesting confirmation.]

‘Unit 11… that’s where the cafe in Seoul is.’

It was the cafe I had cleared out for Minju.

Minju had barely touched the supplies I had prepared there and had only contacted me occasionally to seek advice.

But for some reason, today was different.

As seen through the Observation Probe, she was sitting in a corner of the cafe.

She had her head bowed over the dirty cafe table.

‘What is it…?’

It was just as I tilted my head in confusion.

“Hic… h-hic.”

Minju’s shoulders trembled slightly.

She was crying.

* * *

When I tried to contact her to see what was wrong, her phone was off. I had even prepared a power bank in the cafe, so it couldn’t have been because of a lack of electricity.

‘What should I do.’

I pondered for a moment.

The reason she intentionally turned off her phone might be that she didn’t want to show her weak side.

But on the other hand, there was a high possibility that the reason she intentionally sought out that cafe was that she was in danger.

Common sense dictates that someone who doesn’t want to show their weakness would choose a familiar and safe place, such as their own room, rather than going all the way to a distant location.

In other words, she might currently feel that the cafe is the safest place, rather than her own residence.

And… it couldn’t be a good situation where a place outside was safer than home.

After contemplating for a while, I soon made up my mind.

‘I have to help her.’

Of course, I also had a desire to recruit her, but more than that, I couldn’t ignore her, as she had been a great help to me when I was struggling.

Having made up my mind, I headed to the cafe as quickly as possible.

‘I don’t know what happened… but I hope I’m not too late.’

And a moment later, as I opened the cafe door—

Clack—

“Mr. Siwoo?”

Minju looked at me with wide eyes.

As if she hadn’t been able to fully hide her crying, her eyes were still moist.