Chapter 133: Gathering Followers
Of course, that last group hadn’t appeared because someone defended Ashfall.
The real reason was much simpler.
Before the apocalypse, Min Yoonwoo had already been fairly infamous in the local area as a negative figure.
Several surviving acquaintances recognized him from the video and exposed his identity, completely tearing apart the already fragile mask of righteousness he had built for himself.
Min Yoonwoo was none other than MusclePotato404, the same MusclePotato404 who had been attacking Ashfall on the marketplace.
He was reasonably intelligent.
When the apocalypse first began, he immediately grabbed a machete and gathered several lackeys, using force to control everyone inside the factory.
He had originally dreamed of becoming a king in the new world, imagining all the people who had once looked down on him kneeling and licking his boots in the future.
Who could have guessed that Ashfall’s guide warning players not to get caught in the rain would end up ruining everything for him and his men, who spent every day outside killing zombies and leveling up?
Those people inside the factory, who had originally acted timid and submissive, had secretly united behind the scenes.
Together, they drove out everyone who had gotten caught in the rain.
Under normal circumstances, Min Yoonwoo would have simply charged in with his machete.
It wasn’t as though he had never crippled people during fights before.
Now that it was the apocalypse and the law no longer existed, there was no need to think about consequences anymore.
Killing people outright wasn’t even a problem anymore.
However, by that point, Min Yoonwoo was already running a high fever.
He simply didn’t have enough strength left to resist.
He was also afraid that even an old master could be beaten to death by random punches if enough people jumped him at once.
In the end, he could only leave unwillingly and full of resentment.
He had originally believed that his life was probably over.
Who would have thought that fate had not abandoned him after all?
Not only had he survived, but he had also awakened an ability.
The only regret was that among the lackeys who had been driven out alongside him, only he himself survived.
The others not only died, they didn’t even leave behind complete corpses.
Min Yoonwoo didn’t care about that in the slightest.
Lackeys could always be replaced.
Relying on his newly acquired ability, Min Yoonwoo immediately fought his way back.
Originally, he had only intended to deal with the ringleaders in order to make an example of them and intimidate everyone else.
However, once he started killing, he gradually lost control.
By the time he regained his senses, only one person was still alive.
At that point, there was nothing he could do except accept the situation.
Still, having no subordinates simply wasn’t an option.
Originally, he had been wondering how he was supposed to recruit new followers.
Then Ashfall appeared.
Old grudges and new grudges mixed together.
Min Yoonwoo immediately pointed all of his anger toward Ashfall.
After all, he hadn’t lied.
The facts were exactly as he described them.
Ashfall had deceived everyone and caused him and his men to be expelled.
If heaven itself hadn’t favored him, if he hadn’t avoided both zombies and mutation failure while unconscious, he would have ended up dead just like everyone else.
That experience completely destroyed what little conscience Min Yoonwoo still possessed.
Previously, although he often talked about killing people, he had never actually acted on those thoughts.
At most, he had used people as human bait to lure zombies.
If they ran quickly enough, survival was still possible.
This time, however, after his slaughter began, all hesitation disappeared.
Not only did killing people produce Bloody Treasure Chests, but human bodies also strengthened his ability.
Under those circumstances, Min Yoonwoo wanted nothing more than to gather as many people around himself as possible.
Troublemakers would become food for his ability.
Obedient people would become his subordinates.
Deep down, he had always harbored dreams of becoming a local tyrant after the apocalypse.
Watching people die in front of him without any ability to resist only intensified those ambitions.
He was no longer satisfied with becoming king of a single factory.
Hadn’t Ashfall said that monsters could drop Lord Qualifications Token?
Once he obtained a Lord Qualification Token himself, he would gradually occupy all the surrounding territory.
Then he would control the entire city.
And eventually... The entire world.
To achieve that goal, he needed manpower.
At the very least, he needed to gather all the nearby survivors under his control for the time being.
Which meant he couldn’t allow the current situation to continue fermenting any longer.
Min Yoonwoo knew perfectly well that the dirty things he had done in the past wouldn’t survive serious investigation.
He couldn’t allow more people who knew his history to come forward and expose him.
If he had known things would turn out this way, he never would have gotten those tattoos in the first place.
At least then he would have been easier to sell as a hero.
Instead of having people immediately judge him by appearance the moment they saw his face.
After blocking every single person in the comments section who knew his past and disabling their ability to comment, Min Yoonwoo finally posted a brand new thread.
As usual, he began by dragging out the current top celebrity, Ashfall, and stepping on him a few more times for good measure.
Then he explained that his tattoos were the result of youthful recklessness and bad influences in his younger days.
He claimed that he had already realized his mistakes and deeply regretted them.
He sincerely hoped that people wouldn’t judge him purely because of his appearance.
Only after laying that groundwork did he finally reveal his true intentions.
He openly posted his address and explained that he had stockpiled a large amount of supplies.
He hoped that everyone could work together to survive the apocalypse.
As an awakened superhuman, he claimed that he would shoulder the responsibility of protecting everyone.