Chapter 81
Leaving the gigantic corpse of the one-eyed monster behind, I headed outside Daegu Station.
Even while the golems and drones dealt with the minor monsters nearby, I kept my grip tight around my spear.
Just in case a situation arose where I might have to fight.
Fortunately, that four-meter-tall giant seemed to have been an exceptionally powerful monster even among those in this area.
Once I stepped outside the station, most of the cyclopes I encountered were only slightly larger than adult men, and before the drones and golems, they were nothing more than moving targets.
"A little... more boring than I expected."
That was because the drones and golems were taking care of every monster on their own.
I wanted to step in and fight a little, but it was more boring than I had expected.
'No, what am I thinking...?'
This was why I had to be wary of letting my guard down.
Not having to fight was a good thing.
"...You may come out now."
After confirming that the situation was gradually coming to an end, I shouted.
Then, people began emerging one by one from between collapsed commercial buildings, the entrances to underground parking lots, and beneath abandoned vehicles.
They were survivors who had hidden wherever they could when the monsters appeared.
There had been casualties, but it seemed that the quick response had allowed more people than expected to survive.
"Are the monsters all... dead? In such a short time...?"
"We're alive. We really survived!"
"Where the hell did those things suddenly come from?!"
The people looked terrified, but they still breathed sighs of relief at having survived.
[The Guardian of the Forest praises your performance!]
[The Watcher of the Dimension watches your actions to save several people with interest.]
[The Demon of the Pyramid is displeased by your performance.]
[The Survivor of Mechanical Civilization eyes the drones suspiciously.]
The Constellations had reacted as well.
Come to think of it, some of the Constellation names were ones I had never seen before. Were they Constellations that had been watching over Daegu Station?
For now, I told the people who wanted to move to another safe zone to board the train, and several of them began following behind me.
Once I reached the train, I had the people board the passenger cars.
As I lined them up and let them board one by one, the passenger cars became packed for the first time since I had started operating the train.
I had once thought the passenger cars were too large.
But when I actually faced a situation like this, they didn't seem so large after all.
'There are a lot more people than I expected.'
Seeing people fill even the aisles between the seats, I wondered if some of them might have to stand all the way to Demi-Human Town.
But not one of them showed any sign of complaint.
They all looked as if standing was no problem at all, as long as they could reach a safe zone.
'That's a relief, but...'
This time, another concern came first.
Would it be manageable if so many people suddenly poured into Demi-Human Town all at once?
Wouldn't it cause chaos if dozens of outsiders suddenly descended on the community where elves, dwarves, goblins, and even a mimic lived together?
I took out my phone and contacted Demi-Human Town.
[There are far more people than expected. Is that okay?]
A reply came back almost as soon as I sent the message.
[You worry too much about unnecessary things. Tie those worries up and leave them be.]
The reply was in a different tone than I had expected, but I could tell who had written it without even asking.
Someone must have been watching from the side and told them to send that.
Yet I found the message surprisingly reassuring.
[No matter how many people there are, we can control them well enough if we make proper rules and enforce them!]
Rules, huh...
Anyway, I decided to leave it in their hands for now.
After finishing the call, I turned around and headed toward the passenger cars.
Before entering the passenger cars, I grabbed some spare blankets.
The passenger cars had never been this packed since I began operating the train.
So I grabbed blankets as an emergency measure.
"For now, at least on these..."
"Ah! Thank you!"
For now, I spread blankets across the empty spaces where people were standing in the aisles or toward the back, so they could at least sit on them.
It would take quite a while to get from Daegu to Demi-Human Town.
It would be better to make the trip seated.
The people thanked me and happily sat down on the blankets.
It might have been a little uncomfortable, but even so, the refugees' faces were full of vitality rather than exhaustion.
"I never thought monsters would appear all the way at Daegu Station..."
"It was lucky the train arrived at exactly the right time."
"I felt like that little steel monster would fire its cannon if we didn't get on..."
"Daegu Station isn't safe anymore, either..."
I watched the people and thought.
Wouldn't they be much more comfortable without all that luggage?
I glanced toward Car No. 2.
The drones that happened to make eye contact with me approached, read my gaze, and began gathering the luggage.
Whiiiiir—!
"Goodness! You startled me!"
"Why's this hunk of metal taking my backpack...!"
"It's cramped, so we'll store your backpacks for you."
"Ah..."
"You should've said so before snatching it..."
"How can a drone talk?"
"...True."
Inside the train, reconnaissance drones and combat drones flitted busily around without a moment's rest.
To make room in the cramped passenger cars, the drones snatched up survivors' large backpacks, old suitcases, and other luggage with their pincers and diligently carried them to Car No. 2.
At first, some people had been startled, thinking the drones were stealing their backpacks, but after hearing my explanation, they gave awkward laughs.
Once the survivors had completely relaxed, they soon began chatting noisily.
Many of them had lived in the same area, and the events of that day had been so intense that everyone seemed to have plenty to say.
And whenever someone started talking, others took out their phones as well.
Click! Click!
Smartphone shutter sounds began erupting from all around the passenger cars.
The communications network was unreliable in this apocalyptic world, but the Survivor Gallery could still be accessed anytime and anywhere.
"Well, I'll be going..."
For some reason, I became curious about those posts, so I returned to the cockpit and checked the gallery.
People were excitedly opening the gallery app and uploading proof posts in real time.
Every time I refreshed the page, photos of the train and posts about what had happened that day appeared.
---
[Title: Posting a photo of riding the deputy mod's train standing lol]
A one-eyed monster showed up at Daegu Station just now, but I survived thanks to the deputy mod...
She brought a Dragoon and drones and restored order at Daegu Station.
There were so many people packed into the passenger cars that I thought there wouldn't be enough room, but somehow everyone managed to get on.
(Photo)
The drones are even holding our luggage, and they laid blankets in the aisles and back spaces, so I'm sitting on the floor on the way there ㅇㅇ
Honestly, the service is pretty good. I want to ride it often ㅇㅇ
Three-line summary)
1. The deputy mod is definitely a woman and she's pretty ㅇㅇ. Please ban the bastards who slandered her by claiming she was a man.
2. The train is fucking vicious. It has a missile turret, not just a regular turret.
3. I escaped Daegu Station lol
[Comments]
ㅇㅇ: Why are the main post and the three-line summary saying different things, you bastard? lol
ㅇㅇ: If you're in a situation where you can ride it often, isn't that a serious problem...?
Survivor Gallery User 12: Why are there no photos of the deputy mod or the train? Do you want to die?
ㄴ Author: I was having a meltdown at the time, so it wasn't exactly a situation where I could take pictures.
ㅇㅇ: It goes around with a missile turret instead of the old turret now? What the hell is that train turning into...?
I Love Elf Noona: Wasn't the gender controversy more about that so-called magical girl than the deputy mod?
---
"So these kinds of posts are going up..."
I chuckled as I looked at the posts and photos being uploaded in real time.
Most of the photos were of the inside of the train, followed by the outside of the train, me, and the golem and drones.
Sometimes, people even uploaded selfies saying that they had survived safely.
Of course, the price of uploading a selfie to the gallery was... brutal. The comments were absolutely—
Most of the photos featuring me were blurry because I had been moving so quickly, but the reactions in the comment section weren't bad.
They were still awkward, but most of the comments praised my appearance.
"Yeah... It's just that there are elves and Ms. Ha-seon around me..."
"Huh?"
"It's nothing."
I increased the train's speed a little more.
***
Screeech!
With a rough noise, the train finally settled onto the station platform at Demi-Human Town.
The survivors from Daegu Station stepped outside when the train doors opened, then stopped dead as if on cue.
Gasps burst from their mouths.
"Wow..."
"They moved junked cars to make barricades... How did they move those?"
"It's so green... It doesn't feel bleak at all..."
What unfolded before the survivors' eyes was a huge barricade made from junked cars, street trees, and the giant mimic.
And it seemed that the elf had somehow made plants grow at regular intervals inside the barricade.
But the walls and the streets weren't what surprised the people most.
"L-look over there..."
"Huh? Really...?"
"Wow..."
"Those of you from Daegu, line up over here! Move slowly!"
"Is that... a dwarf...?"
"He just spoke Korean..."
"For some reason, I thought he'd speak in a dialect, but he's speaking like someone from Seoul."
The dwarf began directing the survivors in an impassive tone while holding a board as large as himself.
Following his instructions, the people who had gotten off the train began lining up.
Some even stumbled as they stared blankly at the dwarf.
"No need to be so nervous!"
After setting down the board as large as himself, the dwarf laughed heartily and directed the people.
Beside him, a goblin dressed in a suit shouted into a trumpet as if he were hawking goods.
"Now, now! You must be tired from the long journey! Have a cup of coffee each as a welcome!"
Then he filled paper cups with coffee and handed them to the people in line.
The survivors from Daegu accepted the coffee with bewildered expressions, still dumbfounded by the surreal sight.
"Is it really okay to drink this?"
"Aren't goblins monsters...?"
"But he's wearing a suit, at least."
"That... is true."
"Those who came with their families, go to Building B of the red-roofed villa over there. Your room assignments are here, so check your room and sign before entering the villa. Those who came alone, check the assignment sheet beside it and sign there."
Haneul was guiding people as well.
The division of labor was well organized.
I had only told them a short while ago that so many people were coming, yet they were handling everything skillfully.
I wondered if they had rehearsed in advance.
I stood leaning against the train and watched the lively scene.
At that moment, something blocked my view.
[You have achieved an accomplishment by satisfying a specific condition!]
A dazzling holographic window sprang into existence in midair.
[Achievement Unlocked: Saving Numerous Lives at Once]
Along with the achievement, the messages from the Constellations I had been ignoring all this time—
This time, they poured in alongside sponsorships, impossible to ignore.