Dark Warlock in the Apocalypse

Justin's voice echoed through the air. "I have no intention of giving up my house! I doubt the other survivors feel differently. Therefore, the only solution seems to be sending you back."

"Wait, how can you say that after bringing us here yourself...!" one man protested.

"I truly apologize for that. But, as some form of compensation, you may take as much food as you can carry from any convenience store we pass on our way back! The owners are all dead, so there's no one to stop you!" Justin replied, his expression unyielding.

The faces of the people before him turned pale. They clearly remembered the mangled corpses they had seen before. The memory haunted them—a grim reminder that such tragedies could happen anywhere that wasn't the safety of a designated shelter.

Justin intensified his voice, adding, "Now, anyone wishing to go back, step forward! I will personally escort you! Since you dislike the safety zone so much, it's the least I can do!"

Silence fell upon the group. The murmurs of discontent evaporated as people hesitated, glancing at one another nervously. No one seemed eager to leave the safety zone.

"Hmm, did you change your minds?" Justin mused aloud, his voice laced with sarcasm. "I was under the impression that all of you wanted to leave."

"...Who said we wanted to go back?! We just want things to be improved!" one voice shouted defiantly.

It was a man with bandages on his hand, visibly seething with frustration. He was the eldest son of the family Justin had first rescued. The younger brother, a high school student, tried in vain to stop him.

"This is unfair! You're basically saying, 'Do as I say if you don't want to die!'" he roared.

"Please, brother, stop this!" the younger brother pleaded, but the man wasn't listening.

"This is tyranny! Even if you saved us, you have no right to treat us like this!" His voice rang out, growing louder and angrier with each word.

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The eyes of the other survivors began to change as well. Fire ignited in their gazes, inspired by the man's boldness. Justin watched it all unfold and couldn't help but let out a small laugh.

"You're right. I don't have any right," he said.

"What?"

"But then again, what is 'right' anyway? I brought you here because there was a quest, and I wanted the reward. I've been honest about my intentions from the start," Justin continued.

The man faltered for a moment. "But..."

"The quest is complete, and I've received my reward. So frankly, I was going to move on. But you had complaints. I tried to accommodate them, but there's nothing I can do. I can't build you a new house, and I don't want to give up mine. And the other houses aren't mine to give away."

He shrugged casually, adding, "If you don't like the temple, then the monk should leave. So, if anyone still thinks their shelter isn't good enough, I offered to take them back because I have no other solutions."

"That's just nonsense!" the man snapped.

"Nonsense or not, I have no responsibility here. Offering to escort you back is the last bit of courtesy I can extend. What made you think I'd meet your demands in the first place?" Justin's voice was cold.

The man gaped at him, unable to respond. He had realized the flaw in his argument. Demanding, criticizing, or even cursing at Justin was his right as a free person. However, the important thing was whether Justin had any reason to listen or act on it.

Unfortunately for the man, Justin had absolutely no reason to oblige.

"You must be confused. I'm neither a policeman nor a firefighter. I saved you just like I'd help an old lady carry a heavy jar of kimchi. But imagine if that old lady demanded I clean her entire house after helping with the jar. Wouldn't I just leave?" Justin asked mockingly.

"...."

"If she starts yelling, demanding that I finish the job, I'd still leave. I'm not here to take responsibility for strangers. So, if you want to scream alone in your home, be my guest."

The man's knees buckled, and he sank to the ground in silence. Justin looked at him briefly, then turned to address the others.

"I've carried the jar for you. Now, is there anyone here who still wants me to clean the house?" he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"...."

"Speak up. You're free to talk, but I have no intention of doing anything more for you."

"...."

The survivors lowered their heads, avoiding Justin's gaze. Their dissatisfaction had vanished like smoke, replaced by a somber understanding. They finally grasped the reality that there was no one here who was obligated to protect them. The only person who cared about their lives at all was a complete stranger with no personal stake.

Justin observed the town, which was slowly filling up with people. He had taken a nap, then wandered around to assess the situation. The number of people had indeed increased, but not by as much as he had hoped. There couldn't have been more than a hundred survivors in total.

Of those, twenty had been brought in by him and Ethan. The remaining survivors had managed to rescue only around seventy people between them.

"Actually, make that sixty people. Derek hasn't even bothered with the quest," Justin thought, glancing toward Derek Stone, the tattooed man. Derek flinched and quickly averted his gaze, still shaken by Justin's threat to kill him if they met outside the safety zone.

More precisely, Derek had been intimidated ever since witnessing Justin wipe out all those skeletons with his magic. The man might not realize it, but his decision to steer clear of Justin was undoubtedly wise. After all, Justin's threat hadn't been an empty one.

"Hey! Get out here already! We're trying to help you!"

"We're not going to eat you, damn it!" A voice echoed in the distance, filled with frustration.

Still, no one emerged from their hiding places. Those who hadn't come out by now were clearly too cowardly, and being yelled at certainly wouldn't help. It would only make them barricade themselves in more securely.

"Well, I guess that brings the total to about a hundred people," Justin mused.

Adding up the rescued survivors and the quest-completing survivors, it seemed like they had around a hundred people. Justin found himself thinking back to World Breaker, the game that had prepared him for this. If he remembered correctly, a village in World Breaker started with a base population of one hundred.

'Strange,' Justin thought, though he wasn't sure why he felt that way.

"Damn it! I can't take this anymore!"

"Ugh, I'm exhausted. Let's just rest for now."

Those who had failed to complete the quest eventually returned to the village, panting with exhaustion. Their faces bore the weight of fatigue after staying up all night.

Their decision wasn't necessarily wrong. Fighting in a weakened state would only increase their chances of dying. Resting was the better option. The problem was that the system wasn't likely to allow them much time to recover.

And sure enough, as the sun rose, the system's messages echoed once again.

"Ding! A night has passed since the Undead Wave."

"Ding!The side quest 'Savior of Life' has been removed due to exceeding the time limit."

"Ding!The village's total population has exceeded 100."

"Ding!Migration conditions have been met. Dimensional migration will now commence."

"What...?" Justin murmured, eyes narrowing.

Migration? Dimensional migration? What did that even mean?

Unfortunately, Justin didn't have time to ponder the message. As soon as it ended, the landscape surrounding the village began to warp and twist.