The Molotov cocktail plummeted from the darkness above and turned the vast atrium of Mega Mall Seoul into hell on earth in a single heartbeat.
BOOM!
A blue-orange fireball erupted with savage fury, devouring everything the 99% ethanol had splashed across. Agonized screams echoed through the wide hall, bouncing off the concrete walls until they stabbed the eardrums. Several burly men rolled and thrashed across the shattered glass, desperately slapping at flames that melted their plastic armor and scrap-metal plates into their skin. The stench of burning hair and boiled flesh filled the air. Thick black smoke coiled upward toward the skylight, blotting out all vision and leaving only dark silhouettes writhing pitifully in the bloody firelight.
Chaos was the staircase to kingship… and Kang Shi-hun was descending it.
On the dark second-floor balcony, Shi-hun stood motionless like a stone statue. He watched the carnage below with eyes that were cold and bottomless. Behind the half-face gas mask that filtered smoke and the copper reek of blood, he was no longer a struggling college student fighting for survival. He was the Reaper… the one who controlled this blood-colored chessboard.
Down below, amid the flickering flames, Ji-ah used the keys she had seized to unlock the main padlocks on both the men's and women's cages. The steel-mesh gates swung open. More than fifty emaciated, wounded prisoners surged out like a black flood bursting from a broken dam.
Yet they were still at a severe disadvantage. The scavengers who had survived the initial blaze began to regain their senses. Their primal instincts kicked in. They shouted curses and orders in the darkness, raising shotguns, pistols, and iron clubs, preparing to mow down the panicked, unarmed crowd and slaughter the rebellion.
Shi-hun's black eyes narrowed slightly. Through the mask lenses he did not see people about to be killed. He saw a far greater opportunity for profit than charging in alone. His INT-15 mind ran the cold calculation in a fraction of a second.
If I go down and kill them myself, I gain one day at a time… but if I arm them, every drop of enemy blood they spill will flow back to me as lifespan.
He opened the God's Shop interface in his mind at once. The items he had disassembled earlier were called up on the translucent blue window.
[Purchase: Carbon Steel Machete × 20]
[Price per unit: 0.5 days | Total cost: 10.0 days]
[Purchase: Combat Dagger × 10]
[Price per unit: 0.2 days | Total cost: 2.0 days]
"Confirm," he whispered.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The heavy sound of metal striking tile rang out. Thirty gleaming silver blades materialized from thin air and rained down onto the atrium floor directly in front of the newly freed prisoners. Firelight danced across their razor edges, turning them blood-orange like a gift from Satan bestowed upon sinners for revenge.
Shi-hun's voice boomed through the mall's still-functioning PA system—cold, commanding, and utterly without mercy.
"Pick them up… no need to return them… use them to rip apart those who tormented you."
The words were oil poured onto the fire of hatred. Su-jin, the battle-scarred fighter, lunged first and seized the nearest machete. The perfectly balanced rubber grip felt right in her palm. Her eyes changed from prey to predator.
She did not hesitate. She charged through the scattered gunfire and smoke, slid low to close the distance on a scavenger reloading his rifle, then swung the carbon-steel blade across the back of his knee. The man screamed and collapsed. Before he could recover, Su-jin rose and brought the machete down through his neck in one clean stroke. Blood jetted across her face. The headless body crumpled to the ground.
Ding!
A blue message flashed in Shi-hun's vision on the second floor, accompanied by a small thread of warmth flowing into his bloodstream.
[System confirmation: Ally eliminated enemy with "shop-generated weapon"]
[Lifespan gained: +1 day]
The corner of Shi-hun's mouth beneath the mask curled into a twisted smile. His theory was correct. Every weapon created from his lifespan carried a spiritual bond with the system. When it took a life—regardless of who swung it—the entire profit returned to the owner. This was how to build an army of worker ants to farm lifespan.
Seeing Su-jin open the path and prove the enemy could be killed, Min-ah, the agile scout girl, snatched two combat daggers. She melted into the shadows and smoke, using her superior agility to appear behind a giant scavenger who was dragging a woman by the collar. She leaped onto his back and drove both blades into the base of his skull, twisting once to sever the spinal cord. The giant toppled like a felled tree.
[Kill confirmed: +1 day]
The emaciated men, driven mad by weeks of whipping and torture, grabbed the remaining machetes. They roared like a pack of wolves unleashed and hurled themselves at the scavengers with raw savagery. There was no elegance—only brutality. Blades hacked down again and again on bodies until blood flooded the floor. The sound of tearing flesh and splintering bone mixed with pleas for mercy that no one answered.
[Kill confirmed: +1 day]
[Kill confirmed: +1 day]
[Kill confirmed: +1 day]
Shi-hun's lifespan counter ticked upward in rapid succession like a cash register that never broke.
***
But the Grim Reaper had not come merely to watch his minions have fun.
Shi-hun placed a hand on the balcony railing and leaped over the edge into empty space. With SPD 14 and STR 13, his leg muscles absorbed the impact perfectly. He landed on the lower floor without a sound, like a black panther. The suppressed Glock 19 materialized in his right hand the instant he touched down.
The thick smoke made the scavengers cough and blinded them in every direction. For Shi-hun, the gas mask and PSI 13 turned the chaos into a living radar. He could sense the direction of fear, the heartbeat of every enemy, cutting through the pandemonium with perfect clarity.
He walked forward calmly through the smoke.
Pfft. Pfft.
Two 9mm rounds drilled through the skulls of two scavengers aiming rifles at Su-jin's group. Blood and brain matter sprayed along the pillars. They dropped without ever knowing where death had come from.
Another scavenger burst out of the smoke on the right. He froze in terror when he saw the masked man standing directly in front of him. He frantically raised his pump-action shotgun.
Faster than human eyes could follow, Shi-hun opened the shop and summoned a Karambit claw knife (0.2 days) into his left hand. He sidestepped the point-blank blast, closed the distance in a blur, and slashed the blade across the man's wrist, severing artery and tendons. The shotgun clattered to the floor. Before the man could scream, Shi-hun reversed the blade and opened his throat in one fluid motion. Thick blood sprayed across the concrete wall. The scavenger fell clutching his neck, drowning in his own blood.
[Kill confirmed: +1 day]
Within fifteen minutes the gunfire, the clash of metal on bone, and the fighting fell silent. Only the soft crackle of dying flames and the ragged breathing of the prisoners—now drenched in the thick black blood of their enemies—remained.
Every scavenger in the atrium had been wiped out. Not a single one survived.
***
"Ji-ah," Shi-hun's cold voice cut through the heavy silence. "Go to the information counter and flip the backup breaker."
Ji-ah flinched. Fresh blood still coated her face and torn blouse. She nodded obediently and ran to obey without a word.
Click… rumble…
The diesel generator in the basement groaned to life. Fluorescent lights and red emergency lamps flared on, banishing the darkness. The sight that appeared made several people's knees buckle. Some of the women vomited at the sight of their own handiwork.
More than twenty scavenger corpses lay scattered across the floor in indescribable states. The stench of blood mixed with feces and urine from the dying was nauseating.
In the center of that hellish arena, Kang Shi-hun stood tall. His pitch-black gaze swept over the surviving prisoners. The overwhelming pressure of INT 15 radiated from him like a tangible aura, pressing down on every shoulder.
"Listen well," his voice rang clear and sharp across the hall. "The knives in your hands are yours to keep. But from this moment, Mega Mall Seoul is my territory. There are three rules…"
He raised a finger slowly. "One… my orders are law. Two… everyone must work in exchange for shelter and food I will provide. Three… no stealing, no killing each other. Anyone who breaks the rules will have their Achilles tendons cut and be thrown to the zombies alive."
No one dared even breathe loudly. They bowed their heads and accepted the new law without question. Their eyes toward Shi-hun were filled with terror mixed with awe.
"Very good," Shi-hun nodded. "Su-jin, Min-ah, Ji-ah—you three take command. Clear the corpses and pile them behind the mall."
Before anyone could disperse, a hoarse groan rose from beneath an overturned vending machine. A skinhead scavenger lay pinned, his shattered shin bone protruding through the flesh. It was the same man who had once guarded the cages and laughed while women were dragged away to be raped.
"P-please… help me… I surrender… I'll be your slave…" he stammered, begging for his life, drool foaming at his mouth as he saw Su-jin approach with a raised machete.
"Wait," Shi-hun stepped through the circle. He raised a hand to stop Su-jin, then summoned a surgical scalpel into his palm. He knelt, pressing the razor tip lightly against the man's cheek—just deep enough for blood to bead in a thin line.
"You kept the women and supplies here," Shi-hun began the interrogation, voice flat as if asking for directions. "But where is the main armory and food warehouse?"
The skinhead trembled, cold sweat pouring. "If… if I tell you, will you let me go? I swear I'll run as far as I can!"
Slice.
The scalpel severed the Achilles tendon of his remaining good leg. The man screamed so loudly it echoed across the atrium.
"I ask. You answer. You do not set conditions," Shi-hun said coldly, eyes unblinking. "Where are the supplies and weapons?"
The man sobbed, breaking into hysterics. "B2 basement! Behind the supermarket loading zone! Guns, ammo, dried food… everything is there! Boss… Kwang-ho ordered us to guard it!"
Shi-hun narrowed his eyes. The information was clear. A mall this size would have a massive stock warehouse.
"Thank you."
Stab.
The scalpel drove upward under the jaw, piercing straight through the skull into the brain. The body convulsed violently a few times before going still forever.
[Kill confirmed: +1 day]
***
Shi-hun rose. He did not rush to the warehouse. Instead he walked slowly, surveying the scavenger corpses scattered across the atrium.
His gaze saw past the disgusting flesh and recognized only "valuable resources" waiting to be disassembled.
He touched the double-barreled shotgun lying beside one corpse.
"System. Disassemble."
The shotgun shuddered and dissolved into blue-and-gold pixels that streamed into his palm.
[Blueprint unlocked: Double-Barreled Shotgun]
[Stored in System Shop | Base price: 10.0 days]
He moved on, touching the blood-smeared AR-15 from another body. He had already disassembled this model before.
[Duplicate item detected: AR-15 (5.56mm)]
"Disassemble."
The rifle vanished again. This time the golden light was brighter.
[Structural analysis of duplicate item: AR-15 proficiency increased]
[Repeated disassembly effect: Purchase price reduced by 5% | Current price: 14.25 days]
Shi-hun paused. His black eyes flashed with excitement. The INT-15 calculation blazed in his mind.
The first disassembly unlocked the blueprint… repeated disassembly increased structural mastery and stacked permanent discounts… meaning that if he disassembled the same item in massive quantities, the price would drop until it was essentially free.
This was the terrifying secret—the true power of the God's Shop. It was not merely trading lifespan for items. It was monopolizing resources through a production line fueled by structural understanding.
Realizing this, he began sweeping up everything in sight with frantic hunger. Pistols, combat knives, ballistic vests, tactical helmets, even handheld radios—every object his hand touched dissolved into light and was absorbed into his mind.
[Repeated disassembly: Ballistic vest ×5 | Purchase price reduced 15%]
[Repeated disassembly: 9mm pistol ×8 | Purchase price reduced 20%]
Yu-jin and the prisoners watched in stunned horror. This man was literally "eating" weapons into himself. He was a walking armory and black hole. No one dared touch the items for themselves.
***
When the floor had been stripped clean, Shi-hun left the new servants to clean the blood and drag away the corpses. He headed alone down to B2.
The heavy steel door to the warehouse zone was chained with thick cables and a massive padlock. Shi-hun did not waste time searching corpses for keys. He summoned the Glock, fired into the padlock until it shattered, then kicked the steel door open.
The musty smell of dry cardboard mixed with gun oil hit his nose. The warehouse was the size of a football field, lined with metal shelves reaching the ceiling. They were packed with crates of canned food, sacks of rice, thousands of bottled water packs. In another corner stood green military crates looted from fallen army camps, filled with 5.56mm and 9mm ammunition, shotgun shells, and dozens of smoke grenades.
This was the wealth the scavengers had plundered, extorted, and murdered for over weeks.
To ordinary survivors it was a fortune that would require dozens of trucks to move and an armed garrison to guard.
To the king of the digital mine… he had an infinite pocket dimension inside his mind, and now he knew exactly how to exploit the discount mechanic.
Shi-hun walked to the first wall of canned-food crates and placed his hand on one.
"System… disassemble everything."
WHOOSH!
A micro-vibration hummed through the air. A tidal wave of blue pixels erupted. Hundreds upon hundreds of crates vanished in the blink of an eye, as if erased from reality.
[Blueprint unlocked: Assorted Canned Food | Base price: 0.5 days]
[Repeated mass disassembly detected: 1,200 cans]
[Maximum structural proficiency reached: Purchase price reduced 95% | Current price: 0.025 days per can]
He moved along the pallets of bottled water, rice sacks, medical kits, saline bags, bandages—everything his hand touched dissolved into data. Mass Disassembly dropped the price of basic consumables so low that feeding hundreds of people cost him almost nothing.
When he reached the weapons section, his smile widened beneath the mask. He placed his hand on a green ammunition crate.
[Disassembled: 5.56mm ammunition × 5,000 rounds | Purchase price reduced 80% | Current price: 0.05 days per magazine]
[Disassembled: 9mm ammunition × 3,000 rounds | Purchase price reduced 75% | Current price: 0.05 days per magazine]
[Repeated disassembly: Tactical smoke grenades × 20 | Purchase price reduced 40% | Current price: 1.2 days each]
In less than twenty minutes the enormous warehouse that had been packed to the ceiling with supplies and weapons… was now completely empty, as if nothing had ever existed there. Every atom had been sucked into Shi-hun's System Shop. He no longer needed to fear theft, no longer needed guards, and could summon food or ammunition for his servants from thin air at almost zero cost.
"Perfect," he whispered. The word echoed in the hollow warehouse.
***
Shi-hun returned to the second-floor balcony. His gray hoodie was now torn and soaked with black zombie blood, red human blood, gunpowder soot, and the stench of urine. The smell was unbearable, yet no one dared comment. He knew the blood-stained rags no longer suited his new status as ruler.
He headed to the high-end men's designer section on the first floor. The storefront glass was shattered, but the display mannequins still wore luxurious, expensive suits no one in the apocalypse cared to steal because they offered no survival value.
Shi-hun stopped in front of a bespoke black suit—finely woven fabric, perfectly tailored, paired with a black silk shirt, matte black tie, and polished Italian leather shoes.
A mafia suit. A suit of power. A Reaper's suit.
He placed his hand on the fabric.
"Disassemble."
The suit on the mannequin dissolved into pixels.
[Blueprint unlocked: Bespoke Black Suit Set with leather shoes]
[Stored in System Shop | Base price: 1.0 days]
Shi-hun stripped off the filthy hoodie and blood-soaked jeans, tossing them aside without regret. His upper body—now packed with dense muscle from the STR-13 and SPD-14 upgrades—came into view, marked with faint scars from countless brushes with death.
He opened the shop window.
[Purchase: Bespoke Black Suit Set]
[Price: 1.0 days | Confirm Y/N]
"Confirm."
Blue light enveloped him like gentle water. When the glow faded, Kang Shi-hun stood before a cracked full-length mirror wearing the perfectly fitted black suit. The fabric was flawless, wrinkle-free, and completely clean. The leather shoes gleamed under the emergency lights.
He reached up and removed the battered half-face gas mask, dropping it beside the discarded hoodie.
The disguise was over.
The reflection in the glass no longer showed a struggling student. It showed a king—the Grim Reaper with a handsome face in an immaculate suit, ready to conduct business in blood and lifespan.
He rolled his shoulders to test mobility. The fabric was surprisingly flexible and did not hinder movement. A shoulder holster hidden beneath the jacket held the Glock 19 securely, while the karambit rested in an inner pocket, ready to be drawn in an instant.
***
Shi-hun stepped out of the clothing store and began what he had planned from the start—the systematic harvest of the entire mall.
Not clearing life, but clearing objects to maximize the discount stack as much as the mall's resources allowed.
He walked every floor like a king inspecting his domain, leaving the new servants to rest and tend wounds.
Fourth floor—camping section. He touched military-grade tents, high-lumen flashlights, spare batteries, portable water filters. Blue pixels flared in his wake. The more flashlights and filters he disassembled, the lower their price dropped until it was nearly zero.
Fifth floor—tool section. He disassembled portable generators, electric saws, concrete drills, crowbars, and massive cable reels.
Sixth floor—restaurant zone. He disassembled propane tanks, chef-grade knives, industrial meat grinders, and emergency medical kits.
Every step was the absorption of the old world's wealth. The entire Mega Mall was slowly transformed from a physical place into a digital armory inside one man's mind.
[Current lifespan: 345.5 days]
At midnight Shi-hun reappeared on the second-floor balcony above the atrium.
The survivors, now eating canned food that Shi-hun had summoned for Ji-ah to distribute at nearly zero cost, looked up. The sight of the tall man in the spotless black suit clashed violently with the ruined world. His sharp, handsome face and icy black eyes only reinforced his aura of mystery, power, and dread. No one dared meet his gaze directly.
Even Yu-jin, sitting while clutching her ribs, had to catch her breath at the transformation. The man who had once fought through zombie hordes beside her had now ascended to a throne she could never reach.
The kingdom of ash had been founded completely.
Tools ready. Cheap supplies ready. Worker army ready.
Now… he simply waited for the big prey named "Kwang-ho" to return to his nest, so he could test his new toys and the freshly unlocked discount system with their lives.