#17 Badasses
"I collected everything, Boss."
Jongdu approached Cheoldu and bowed his head.
The boss of the gang, Jeon Yong-gu, and the other two second-in-commands, Yang Mun-sik and Lee Jung-ho, are incapacitated.
They coughed up all the goblin coins and stat stones they had.
'If you lose, you have to cough up the spoils of war.'
As expected, he's not ruthless enough. He can't kill them, so he just extorts money and lets them go.
If his old man saw how soft he was being, he'd have his hide.
'I'm still weak.'
The rookie barbarian was kicking himself for not being ruthless enough.
"Hoo, let's go then."
"Wouldn't it be better to take over this place?"
"Near the river is better."
"But."
"Backtalk?"
"I will follow your orders."
Jongdu quickly bowed his head.
He swore he'd serve him loyally, and then he goes and pisses him off.
He must show his loyalty and be recognized.
Jongdu's eyes suddenly got this determined look.
"Let's go back."
"Yes, Boss."
"Why are you calling me Boss?"
"W-well, of course you're the Boss."
Cheoldu thought about the title for a moment.
They're not gangsters, so they can't keep calling him Boss.
But calling it a 'tribe' is kinda pushing it...
"Call me Captain."
"Yes, Captain."
"Wait a minute. Pack that, uh, and that too."
Following Jintae's instructions, the five gangster underlings diligently packed the supplies.
"We've packed everything, Right-hand man."
"R-Right-hand man?"
"Yes, Right-hand man."
"Hmm. Mmm-hmm."
Jintae's face flushed red at the word "Right-hand man," and his nostrils flared. It was obvious he was stoked, but he was playing it cool, which was kinda cute.
"Pack that too."
"Yes! Right-hand man."
Dude gave orders to loot everything until he was finally grinning like he'd won the lottery.
Cheoldu and his group returned to their base around the time the sun was setting over the western ridge.
When they got back, they were the only ones in the no-man's-land between the refugee camp and the river.
At the base, there were only two things: a pile of stones to be used as a fireplace and a crocodile carcass, but next to it, a mountain of looted stuff.
"Captain, we will build the barracks first."
"Good."
Jongdu was the type who did his job well even without being told. Cheoldu smiled with great satisfaction.
Now this is what I call a well-oiled machine.
He'd figured they'd just be good for gathering firewood and other crap jobs, but they were actually doing everything right without him having to say a word.
Some set up tents by erecting looted wooden pillars and canvas, and some went quite far to fetch firewood.
Jintae was carefully stacking stones for a fire pit, and Cheoldu was carving up the croc meat with a bone knife.
As expected, with more people, the work progressed much faster.
It's not about being strong, it's about having enough hands on deck.
You gotta have enough people for basic survival. Even just for standing guard, more people are better.
A fairly large stone slab was placed on the fireplace, and when it was heated up quite a bit, they put the prepared crocodile meat on it.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle!
As the meat went on, the gang members who were glancing at it swallowed their saliva, and when one side was cooked and flipped over, their faces went totally slack-jawed.
Szzzzzz.
Cheoldu and Jintae, who had already eaten it, sat down familiarly and ate the grilled crocodile meat, stirring it with makeshift wooden chopsticks.
He heard all the gulping and turned to see the five youngest guys staring, then quickly looking away.
"What are you guys doing?"
"No, it's nothing. Sorry."
"No, it's cooked, come and eat."
At Jintae's words, they looked shocked.
"How could we even think about sitting at the same table as the Boss, no, Captain?"
He forced the guys, who were sensitive to hierarchy because they were from a gang, to sit down.
"Are you going to bother lighting another fire? Just come here."
"Hup, yes."
The six goons joined in and began to eat crocodile meat. One of the youngest was shedding tears.
"Why are you crying?"
"I-it's too delicious!"
"Didn't you eat?"
"I did eat, but I ate something like sweet potatoes."
"There are sweet potatoes here too?"
"If you head over to those hills, there's a spot where you can dig 'em up."
"Oh, really?"
Jintae perked up his ears and asked about this and that.
Once they started shooting the breeze, the awkwardness kinda faded.
"Anyway, let's do well for the next 5 days."
At Cheoldu's words, Jongdu dropped his chopsticks as if greatly shocked.
"W-what do you mean by that?"
"Let's bust our asses and make it through this."
"H-however, what do you mean by 5 days?"
"We'll go our separate ways when we get outta here."
Jongdu knelt down as if collapsing.
"That can't be."
"Huh?"
Cheoldu laughed in disbelief.
"We got involved because of each other's circumstances, and I don't intend to force you any further."
They came in as subordinates sent by their Big Brother without knowing why.
Cheoldu crushed that Big Brother, causing them to lose their very foundation.
He was satisfied with getting workers for 5 days, but Jongdu didn't seem to be.
"Absolutely not."
"Did I pick up slaves or something? What do you mean 'absolutely'?"
"..."
Jongdu hesitated before speaking.
"Captain, are you not coming to Nova again in the future?"
"No. I have to come back."
There is a secret to becoming strong here.
There are opportunities to gain strength that even transcends the limits of species, so why wouldn't he come?
Moreover, after witnessing this other world firsthand, the talk of Earth's imminent destruction didn't sound like a lie.
"This Seo Jongdu! I have finally met a master to dedicate my life to. Please, allow me to follow you."
"Huh?"
Isn't this old dude overdoing it?
"I will never disobey you. I will follow you with all my loyalty, so please just allow it."
Jongdu glared at the youngest ones who were just watching to see what would happen.
"Please allow us!"
Panicked, the five youngest guys also knelt down and begged. Some of them wanted to run away when they got back to Earth, but they couldn't dare to speak up, swept away by the atmosphere.
Cheoldu looked at Jintae.
"Is this for real?"
"Probably..."
This whole 'playing tribal chief' thing looks like it's getting serious.
"Okay. I'll accept you."
"Thank you!"
"Thank you, Captain!"
Cheoldu waved his hand as if to say, "Whatever."
After filling their stomachs, there wasn't much to do.
The guys who volunteered to be subordinates were quite capable.
Because they were from a gang, there was no need to establish a system.
The tents they had been working on since earlier were completed quite securely thanks to the abundant pieces of cloth.
They quickly threw up two tents with the fire pit in the middle. One for Cheoldu and Jintae, the other for the six goons.
"We will take turns keeping watch."
"Yeah, obviously."
"Please rest comfortably."
If he'd kicked them out, that'd be that. But since he'd taken them on as his crew, he was gonna treat 'em right. And, of course, they'd better treat him right.
Just having a crew made Cheoldu feel like a grown-up. He was proud, but also a little down.
Thinking about groups and tribes and all that made him miss his old man.
"Jintae. Are you asleep?"
"No."
"I feel a little lonely."
"..."
Jintae, who had been lying down, got up.
"You son of a bitch."
"Why are you cursing?"
"How can I not curse when you say something like that when we're lying in the same tent?"
"..."
Cheoldu chuckled and closed his eyes.
"I was thinking about my father."
"..."
Jintae opened his mouth wide and didn't know what to do, but Cheoldu turned his back and lay down.
"Good night, Jintae."
"No, are you going to stop talking in the middle of a story?"
Is he really going to just drop that bomb and fall asleep?
Really?
Jintae was tossing and turning, feeling guilty as hell, but his body was wrecked, and he finally crashed.
\*
Next morning, they scarfed down some potato-looking things they'd looted from the gangsters, cooked over the leftover coals.
"This is not bad once you get used to it, huh?"
Jintae was even looking forward to the remaining 4 days of life in this other world.
They had tents to avoid the night dew, and they had enough ways to get food.
Plus, they had these guys doing all the grunt work for free, so it was basically a vacation.
"Let's talk seriously now."
"About what?"
"Cheoldu, are you just going to lie down for 4 days?"
"I was thinking of checking things out."
"Oh, you had a plan."
Cheoldu stared at Jintae for a moment and then nodded.
"Right-hand man."
"Ha, geez. Why are you doing this too?"
The way he was twisting his body, he must really like the title.
"A second-in-command needs to act like a second-in-command."
"Yeah, of course."
"Let's go."
"Okay. But where to?"
"Training."
"Huh?"
Cheoldu summoned his subordinates.
"Okay, let's go."
"Where are you going, Captain?"
Did these guys get dumber overnight?
"Backtalk?"
"We will follow you."
Cheoldu chuckled, looking at Seo Jongdu's tense expression. Is it 'cause he's an old dude? He's totally out of touch.
"Your jokes are no fun. We're going hunting."
"Hunting, you say?"
"Yeah."
Cheoldu frowned at the way the youngest ones looked like they were about to crap their pants.
"What? Are you scared?"
"N-no, sir."
"We can do it."
"Good. Come to think of it, I don't even know your names."
Before Cheoldu could say anything, Jongdu bowed his head.
"I am Seo Jongdu."
"Heueum."
When Cheoldu frowned, Jongdu wondered what he had done wrong.
'Captain hates backtalk.'
It suddenly dawned on him.
"I'm sorry."
"Hmm, okay, Seo Jongdu."
Cheoldu looked at the rest.
They might blurt out their names all clueless like Seo Jongdu, so Cheoldu decided to take charge.
"I will give the rest of you names."
"……?"
We have names though?
"The Captain's giving out names. Show some respect!"
Seo Jongdu, sucking up as usual, pushed the youngest ones to answer.
"Th-thank you."
Cheoldu grinned, pleased with himself, and started handing out names.
"You are Ilho. You are Iho, Samho, Saho, and Oho."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
People usually clam up when they're totally shocked.
Seo Jongdu, even though he was totally confused, was quick to show how loyal he was.
"Oh, lucky them!"
Seriously, if he's so jealous, he should volunteer for a new name too, but none of the young guys were brave enough.
But there's always someone who's quick on the uptake, and the guys who know how to play the game are the ones who get ahead.
"Thank you for bestowing such good names."
"Good. Saho."
"It's an honor."
The others, getting the hint, mumbled their thanks, but Cheoldu started them moving.
Jintae poked Cheoldu in the side, watching this terrible renaming scene.
"You did that because you were too lazy to memorize names, right?"
"You're stating the obvious."
Seo Jongdu, listening in, congratulated himself for being so clueless.
If I hadn't introduced myself so quickly, Ilho would have been me.
Cheoldu and his group crossed the plains that stretched eastward and arrived at the foothills.
