Absolute Dweller-Chapter 124

Seo Ye-jin tamed the scattered Ratmen in the underground parking lot while Ha Dong-geon's party transformed the Hanul Nuclear Power Plant into a forward base.

Similar to the Kori Nuclear Power Plant, the construction time had increased with additional costs, but there were ways to handle it.

Park Sae-rom and Kim Da-bin guarded the forward bases in Ulsan and Kori, while Seo Ye-jin was busy taming Ratmen here.

Excluding these three, all the retainers were summoned to the Hanul Nuclear Power Plant, and the construction of the forward base began.

This was for a specific effect.

[More than ten citizens with titles of "Knight" or higher are gathered at the construction site.]

[Construction efficiency has increased by 200%.]

[Time remaining until the completion of the forward base facility construction:]

-239 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds.

"Complete it immediately!"

[Would you like to complete the construction of the 'Forward Base' facility immediately?]

[To complete this facility immediately, 24 crystals are required.]

"Yes."

Woo-ooong!

With the successful creation of the forward base at the Hanul Nuclear Power Plant, a safe zone was established.

Just like what happened at the Kori Nuclear Power Plant, all hazardous nuclear waste disappeared, leaving behind only the functionality of electricity generation.

"I'm running out of crystals now!"

Only 38 crystals remained—just enough to immediately complete another forward base of the same scale as Kori and Hanul.

"Hmm!"

There were two remaining nuclear plant sites in South Korea that hadn't been claimed yet.

One was the disaster-stricken Wolseong Plant.

The other was the Hanbit Plant located in South Jeolla Province.

The choice was practically made for me.

"I'll have to give up on Hanbit!"

The "immediate completion" feature had to be used for the radiation-contaminated Wolseong Plant.

"It’s the only way to minimize radiation exposure."

The land emitted such intense radiation that even Seo Ye-jin's zombie-affiliated rats would die trying to approach it.

Even if the radiation monsters responsible for it were eliminated, it was unlikely the land would ever be fully purified.

It was impossible for retainers to survive on such land for over ten days. The construction had to be completed immediately.

"If only there were two more people, I could've saved some crystals."

There were a total of 18 retainers gathered at the Hanul Nuclear Power Plant, including even Choi Hyung-joon, who I usually left alone. But since there were fewer than 20 people, the effect capped at the 10-person bonus.

"I need to increase the number of retainers!"

Several people came to mind right away.

After the vampire war, the influx of awakened individuals had expanded my options, and some stood out among them.

They would make suitable retainers.

"Lee Ho-beom and Choi Do-yeon should do nicely!"

Both had awakened A-rank abilities—electricity and wind manipulation, respectively.

As I was reviewing the citizen information pages of potential retainers, I heard a thundering sound in the distance.

It was the footsteps of the Queen Ratman, with Seo Ye-jin riding on its back.

"Oppa, I’ve tamed all the ones in the underground parking lot."

"Good work."

"What about the ones outside?"

"The ones up there?"

Seo Ye-jin gestured toward the Queen Ratman she was riding.

"Yeah, it said there were some that went out hunting."

"Hmm. Unfortunately, we’ll have to give up on them."

Suppressing monsters that entered my domain without killing them took a significant mental toll.

As for the Ratmen in areas I hadn’t personally managed, their fate was obvious.

"Ah."

Suddenly, I remembered the Kelicans that had survived by sheer luck.

"I totally forgot about those things!"

The Kelicans, which had also survived during the process of sparing the Ratmen, remained stuffed in the upper floors of the nearby apartment.

"What a persistent connection."

Unlike the Ratmen, they couldn’t be tamed, so they needed to be dealt with.

As creatures with average levels in the mid-20s, they provided decent experience and monetary rewards.

It would be best to leave their extermination to retainers who could maximize the experience and settlement bonuses.

I initially considered assigning the task to Kim Min-ho’s party but then had a better idea.

"Wait. Wouldn’t it be better to give this to Ye-jin?"

Dealing with immobilized Kelicans wasn’t a difficult task.

Since Seo Ye-jin had the evolution skill, even the Ratmen could level up through hunting.

If their levels increased, they’d be able to withstand radiation for longer.

"It’s more efficient to funnel the experience to ordinary Ratmen rather than the already high-level Queen Ratman!"

With that conclusion, I explained my plan to Seo Ye-jin.

"So, could you pick five high-level ones from the Alpha series?"

"Sure, got it."

Although Seo Ye-jin couldn’t visually confirm the monsters’ levels like I could, she was capable of gauging the general strength of the rats she tamed.

Even among monsters of the same level, their strength could vary significantly. In some ways, Seo Ye-jin’s judgment was more accurate than mine.

Tamed Ratman (Lv. 23)

Tamed Ratman (Lv. 23)

Tamed Ratman (Lv. 23)

Tamed Ratman (Lv. 23)

Tamed Ratman (Lv. 23)

With the five carefully selected level-23 Ratmen, we moved to hunt the Kelicans.

By gripping the door of a suitable car, I used the Absolute Dweller’s Door to teleport to the top floor of the apartment where the Kelicans were preserved.

Kelican (Lv. 30)

The Kelican occupying the top floor had a significantly higher level than the others.

"Massive!"

Its sheer size filled the living room, large enough to easily carry three or four people in flight.

"Oppa."

"Yeah?"

"Can’t we tame these guys somehow?"

I was startled by the question.

"Do you think that’s possible?"

Seo Ye-jin quickly shook her hands in denial.

"No, no. I meant can you do it with your power?"

"Oh."

"If we could tame them, it would make operations so much easier. We could use them to transport the Alpha ones."

"True."

I thought about it seriously but didn’t see any viable methods.

"The only possibility might be Kim Geon’s ability..."

But his power involved taming crows.

Even though Kelicans had black feathers, they weren’t exactly the same species as crows.

"Would enhancement work?"

It wasn’t entirely out of the question.

"Summoning retainer Kim Geon."

Ziiing.

Kim Geon, who had been summoned abruptly, looked bewildered. After explaining the situation to him, he responded:

"...I'll give it a try."

The moment the restraint on the Kelican was released:

Screeech!

The Kelican, which had appeared dormant, shuddered violently and rose.

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From its perspective, it was as if it had been paralyzed for hours, unable to move—a natural reaction.

"Invisible Hand!"

Subduing a level 30 creature was as easy as pie.

There was no need for the black aura or the gigantification ability; the sheer grip strength of the Invisible Hand was sufficient to handle it.

Thud!

The Kelican, with its head pressed to the ground, flapped its wings frantically, trying to break free as Kim Geon cautiously approached.

"Enhance."

A black aura began to emanate from Kim Geon’s body, but—

Screeech!

Unfortunately, it seemed his ability had no effect.

"...It doesn’t seem to work."

"I see. Thank you for trying."

As I was about to instruct Seo Ye-jin to deal with the Kelican, Kim Geon spoke up.

"...Jaehyun-nim."

"Yes?"

"This is just a thought, but... is it not possible to use the subjugation contract you mentioned on monsters?"

Kim Geon's suggestion was a perspective I hadn’t considered before.

But...

"It seems plausible."

The condition for the subjugation contract was to make the opponent submit.

There was nothing in the description that explicitly stated it couldn’t be used on monsters.

"As long as I can fully subdue it!"

I slowly approached the Kelican.

Screeech!

The restrained creature grew more agitated as I drew nearer.

Looking into its eyes, I released it.

Screeech!

Now freed, the Kelican shrieked aggressively and launched an attack on me.

"Oppa!"

"Jaehyun-nim!"

I heard Seo Ye-jin and Kim Geon cry out in alarm, but I remained calm and stood my ground.

Clang!

The Kelican’s beak didn’t even graze me.

A transparent barrier surrounded my body—a fact I had only discovered recently.

This barrier was akin to the protective zone within my domain, impervious to anything short of divine power.

'Ugh!'

However, the Kelican’s attack succeeded in troubling me in an unexpected way.

[A hostile entity has been detected by the Absolute Dweller’s domain.]

[A hostile entity has been detected by the Absolute Dweller’s domain.]

[A hostile entity has been detected by the Absolute Dweller’s domain.]

The system was reacting violently, attempting to kill the Kelican that had shown hostility toward me.

It was more exhausting to suppress the system’s response than to endure the Kelican’s attacks.

"Wait."

Finally, I managed to calm the system.

Thud!

The Kelican, which had been attacking me with its beak, suddenly collapsed on the spot, trembling.

Oddly, I hadn’t used the system to subdue it.

Looking into its eyes, I understood.

"You felt it, didn’t you?"

The moment it attacked me, the Kelican instinctively realized its life had been in jeopardy dozens of times over.

"I saved you."

So...

[Submit to me.]

As I conveyed the command telepathically, a radiant light erupted from the Kelican’s body.

"Success!"

「Tamed Kelican (Lv. 35)」

Using the Absolute Dweller’s Eye, I confirmed that no special abilities had been added, but its level had risen by five.

And then:

"Enhance."

Whoosh—

A black aura, like shimmering heat waves, began to emanate from the Kelican’s entire body.

The radioactive slime occupying the Wolseong Plant was growing larger, once again reaching a critical threshold.

Having absorbed enough radiation from the accident site, the slime was now slowly engulfing the remaining nuclear plant building.

With every explosion, it divided itself to reproduce, condensing the radiation it absorbed to grow even more.

In the process, the amplified radiation levels spread, transforming the area into a complete wasteland.

Hissss.

The massive radioactive slime continued to dissolve the building’s structure.

The bodies of those who had died inside had long since evaporated, unable to withstand the extreme radiation levels.

Another explosion was imminent, and the radioactive slime was poised to grow even further.

It was then—

Gurgle.

Something was approaching at high speed.

Alarmed by the overwhelming presence, the radioactive slime writhed and turned its gaze to the sky.

A black light was descending toward the plant.

Sensing an ominous threat, the radioactive slime accelerated its dissolution of the building.

But before it could cause the explosion, the black light passed over it, quicker than it could act.

Gurgle?

As the black aura zipped past, the slime momentarily hesitated in confusion.

Then, something began falling from above.

A rancid-smelling rat corpse.

Aside from its unusually large size, what was shocking was that the corpse was still moving.

The radioactive slime was still trying to process this oddity when—

Squelch!

The air above it distorted.

In the next instant—

Whoosh!

Black flames erupted from the distorted space, accompanied by a shower of spears.

Gurgle!?

A downpour of blackened steel rained upon the radioactive slime’s head.