"Sora-nim, was that really necessary?"

Even as her closest aides questioned her, Jung Sora simply smiled calmly.

"Can’t you see what we’ve gained in return?"

"That is…"

Her aides hesitated, taking a moment to glance around.

The temporary shelter they had been assigned was overflowing with supplies.

Instant rice, cup noodles, dried seaweed, Choco Pies—there was more than enough to sustain everyone present and then some.

After being officially accepted by Kim Jae-hyun, they had brought thousands as a vanguard, and tens of thousands more from their main faction.

Yet despite that staggering number, ample provisions awaited them.

But even more astonishing was the electricity and running water.

Since the monster outbreak, power grids had long been destroyed, and the entire city had been without electricity for years.

Normally, such a situation would only be possible in a building with emergency generators or through special abilities.

Given the circumstances, the latter seemed far more likely.

"It was all true."

They had all heard the intelligence reports.

Even Jung Sora and her closest aides had been briefed on what was happening in Busan.

But the reports had sounded too absurd, too impossible.

They had dismissed them as exaggerations or the ramblings of people under mind control or hypnosis.

"Ji-woong-ssi, is there anything wrong with our minds right now?"

Park Ji-woong's Awakening Ability allowed him to create illusions so tangible that they felt real.@@novelbin@@

And as someone who manipulated mental states, he possessed exceptionally high resistance to mind-based interference.

That same Park Ji-woong firmly declared:

"…There are no effects at all. Everything we’re seeing and feeling is real."

Jung Sora looked down at the paper cup of coffee in her hands.

"We already confirmed that before, didn’t we? None of our informants showed any signs of mental manipulation. And most of them chose to bring their friends, family, and loved ones with them here."

Taking a sip of coffee, she let her gaze drift across the humanitarian supplies, microwaves, and other conveniences scattered around them.

She smiled bitterly.

"This is just a temporary shelter. Yet even here, this level of preparation is possible. Compared to our faction, where everyone was slowly starving to death, the difference is like heaven and hell."

"……"

One of the intelligence officers had used the exact same phrase before.

The memory left the closest aides visibly shaken.

You didn't buy this chapter

Buy Now (5 coupons)