Absolute Dweller-Chapter 169

Heinrich’s Law

Also known as the so-called 1:29:300 rule, this law serves as a warning against safety negligence.

It suggests that before a single catastrophe occurs, there are 300 warning signs and 29 minor accidents. In other words, major accidents do not happen by mere coincidence—they emerge as a result of repeated minor incidents.

As I listened to Kim Da-bin’s report, I let out a small sigh and spoke.

"You're saying this is already the 31st case like Kim Myung-hwan's?"

"Yes."

There had already been more than 30 cases of individuals sustaining severe injuries after encountering monsters immune to firearms.

Just as the law's numbers suggested, when considering only cases where monsters were impervious to bullets, the total had already exceeded several hundred.

This was a very ominous sign.

As I wore a serious expression, the people gathered in the meeting room began to sense the tension.

To ease the stiff atmosphere, I asked in the softest voice possible.

"Why is that? If these dangerous monsters are near the safe zone, our retainers should be hunting them down every day."

Kim Da-bin responded.

"The only reason we haven't had any fatalities is thanks to the efforts of our retainers. With the increasing number of people participating in the front lines, the frequency of accidents has been decreasing, which is a meaningful trend."

In other words, if not for the retainers, there would have already been casualties.

"...I don’t understand. If these monsters were deemed a threat, they should have already been dealt with."

Seo Ye-jin, who could conduct extensive searches using rodents, and Yoo Han-gil, who had clairvoyance, had been working together to identify threats. The retainers then intercepted those threats, effectively sweeping through the Seoul area.

On top of that, after the Ice Dragon's appearance, even the weaker monsters had been wiped out, significantly reducing the overall danger level—or so I thought.

Even after that, I had instructed the retainers to patrol the zones and eliminate any remaining threats.

Yet, it seemed that still wasn’t enough.

"It is suspected that the cause is the monster respawn phenomenon."

Monster respawn.

As the name suggested, it referred to the phenomenon where monsters reappeared after being killed.

It was a hypothesis based on the repeated emergence of monsters outside the safe zone despite multiple extermination efforts, as well as testimonies from newly integrated survivors.

"But wasn’t it concluded that the monster respawn phenomenon wasn’t particularly dangerous?"

Most of the respawning creatures encountered in Busan and Ulsan were just orcs and goblins.

Even the monsters that suddenly appeared before the survivors were, at best, mostly orcs, so it had been judged as a non-threat.

"Upon comparing actual data, we found a significant difference between Busan and Seoul."

"What do you mean?"

"There is a stark difference in the level of monsters that respawn in different regions."

Kim Da-bin provided concrete figures for comparison.

"The monsters appearing on the outskirts of Busan are mostly goblins, with an estimated average level of around 13. However, in Seoul, the average level is approximately 35, and the frequency of high-level monster appearances is overwhelmingly higher."

In other words—

"Seoul is a high-level hunting ground."

"Exactly."

Simply put, if Busan was a low-level hunting ground, then Seoul was a high-level one.

It wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.

'I've felt the difference in monster strength from the beginning.'

Even in Busan, boss-level monsters were so rare that encountering them was difficult, but in Seoul, I had already seen dozens of them. The difference in difficulty was obvious.

'Now that I think about it, there were also a lot more high-level Awakened individuals here. Could there be a correlation between the level of Awakened individuals and the level of monsters?'

As I was lost in thought, Kim Da-bin spoke again.

"Most crucially, Seoul's monster respawn rate was significantly faster compared to Busan. Although it's still just a hypothesis, we suspect that each region has a predetermined monster level, quantity, and even a specific theme."

If her hypothesis was correct—

"We need to make major revisions to our plans."

The plan to expand our influence outward from Seoul to the entire Gyeonggi Province was a failure.

The original strategy was as follows:

Using the territories established at Seoul Station and Sindorim Station as strongholds, we would systematically exterminate the surrounding monsters, creating a large empty zone.

By doing so, we would establish that Seoul was under our control while also creating a safe passage for survivors in Gyeonggi Province to approach without danger.

Thus, we had been deploying hunting teams composed of level 30 or higher combatants to aggressively eliminate monsters.

But if the respawn rate of dangerous monsters continued like this?

'Plan A is scrapped.'

Honestly, it was already a miracle that we hadn't suffered any casualties.

In these conditions, it wouldn’t be surprising if an entire team got wiped out at any moment.

'It would be far more efficient to establish forward bases and deploy titled retainers to construct territories, just as we did when securing Seoul.'

Plan B.

Repeat what we did in Seoul across the entire country.

As I was reviewing the plan and examining the map of Korea, a question suddenly came to mind.

"Come to think of it, why was Ulsan different?"

Ever since we eliminated the Vampire King—the True Ancestor—monster respawn incidents had been reported in Ulsan as well.

However, before that, the only monsters in Ulsan had been vampires.

To the point that most survivors in the area weren’t even aware of the existence of other monsters.

"If the level and number of monsters are predetermined per region, shouldn’t Ulsan have had high-level monsters as well?"

The vampires in Ulsan had been incredibly powerful.

Especially the True Ancestor—even in Seoul, I hadn’t yet encountered a monster of that caliber.

Well, except for the Ice Dragon that flew in from North Korea.

"If I remember correctly, after the respawn phenomenon started in Ulsan, only orcs and goblins appeared, right? According to Da-bin’s hypothesis, vampires should have been respawning instead."

"That’s..."

After a brief moment of hesitation, Kim Da-bin carefully replied.

"I suspect it’s because you personally judged the vampires."

She was likely referring to the use of my Descent ability.

Back then, I had forcefully subdued the True Ancestor using the system's power.

'But if I recall correctly, Oh Eon-ju was the one who actually finished him off?'

Then I suddenly remembered what happened afterward.

'Ah.'

After the True Ancestor died, a female vampire had appeared.

One of his high-ranking subordinates.

What was different about her was that at the peak of the ritual, she had absorbed the ominous energy that had been leaking from the True Ancestor.

The moment I killed her, that ominous energy seeped into the surrounding area and manifested in the form of dungeons.

'That unsettled me, so I cleared every single one as soon as they appeared.'

After conquering all of them, I had gained the ability to create an instance dungeon themed around vampires.

'If that process involved absorbing power related to vampires—'

Then it made sense why no more vampires had appeared in Ulsan after that.

The source of this c𝓸ntent is frёeweɓηovel.coɱ.

'If this is also linked to the dungeons that naturally form within our domain...'

Then it was also understandable why the monsters around Busan were disproportionately weak.

'It means a territory's influence isn’t as strong as that of the main base.'

A bit disappointing.

'If only the territory’s influence was larger.'

Absorbing the survivors in Gyeonggi Province would also gain momentum.

Then, a certain fact suddenly came to mind.

'...Right. That.'

After the Ice Dragon's appearance, I had been so focused on stabilizing the situation and reorganizing that I had completely forgotten about it.

'...I need to visit home.'

***

Mid-Slope of Seunghak Mountain, Near the Nakdong River

A massive dungeon, towering 5 meters in height and 3 meters in width, loomed in the area.

From within, a man stepped out.

“Hoo.”

Kim Dong-hyuk—Kim Jae-hyun’s father—had been leading quite a busy life lately.

His primary responsibility was roaming all across Busan, clearing dungeons.

The dungeons he tackled were clearly extraordinary, both in appearance and difficulty.

However, with both the citizen buff and the bloodline buff amplifying all his abilities to the extreme, hunting monsters wasn’t particularly challenging for him.

One punch, one kick—most monsters met their end in an instant.

Ziiing—

As the dungeon expelled Kim Dong-hyuk, its glow faded, and the entire structure trembled before vanishing like a mirage.

"That’s another one down... I can finally take a break."

Shaking his head in exasperation, he stared at the now-gone dungeon.

The place he had just emerged from was the Citadel of Death.

The sheer number of monsters within that one dungeon reached tens of thousands.

A horrific place filled with heavily armed skeleton soldiers wielding swords, spears, and arrows, alongside countless screaming spirits. Even the so-called trash mobs inside were level 38 to 42.

And the dungeon boss?

A Death Knight, a level 55 monster—a truly dangerous opponent.

‘If creatures like that were to escape into the world, it would be a disaster.’

Even with his overwhelming physique, it had taken more than ten days to clear the dungeon.

The only relief was that he only had to clear it four times before it would completely disappear.

After more than a month of grueling battles, he had finally erased the dungeon from existence.

‘Jae-hyun said he was safe, but you never know.’

If his son had been completely certain about his safety, he wouldn’t have asked for help with these dangerous dungeon raids in the first place.

‘Better to be safe than sorry.’

Kim Dong-hyuk slowly descended the mountain.

‘I'm exhausted.’

The dungeon environment had been so intense that getting proper sleep was practically impossible.

Having spent ten entire days trapped inside, his fatigue was overwhelming.

Even now, he was forcing himself to endure through sheer willpower.

But the moment he reached the parking lot, his exhaustion vanished as if °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° it had never existed.

‘Heh heh heh.’

A supercar stood before him.

At this point, he could afford to buy ten of these if he wanted.

Money? That was no longer a problem.

After slaughtering high-level monsters daily, there was no way he would be short on funds.

All he needed was for his son to restore a supercar and register it in the shop, and he could buy it for himself.

‘Even if I’m tired, I gotta take it for a drive. You've been waiting for me, huh?’

Even though the car had gotten dirty over the past ten days while he had been clearing dungeons, it didn’t matter.

‘A quick wash will fix that!’

Retrieving car-washing supplies from the trunk, he began cleaning the vehicle with practiced ease.

"Hmhmm~♪ Hmm hmm~♪"

As the car’s shine gradually returned, he smiled with satisfaction—until suddenly...

“Dad. It’s been a while.”

It was his son.

“Huh? Jae-hyun? What are you doing here...?”

“I just came to see you.”

“Oh, uh... yeah.”

Though he was glad to see his son, an unsettling feeling crept up.

Whenever his son appeared like this, it always meant one thing—

He had a job for him.

“Want some help?”

“Uh... sure?”

“Haha. Actually, I was just starting to feel a little tired...”

And then—

Swoooosh

Droplets of water formed in midair, and a long-bodied creature emerged.

Instantly, Kim Dong-hyuk’s gaze sharpened, and his defensive aura enveloped his body.

“Dad. That’s not a monster.”

“Huh? Oh, really?”

Then—

Wuuuuung—! Chaaaaaaa!

The water serpent released a powerful jet of water, completing the car wash in an instant.

And then—

“What do you think? Clean, right?”

His son grinned proudly.

Kim Dong-hyuk hesitated for a moment before nodding.

“Uh... yeah. I guess so.”

At that moment, his son opened his mouth again.

“Dad, I have a favor to ask.”

“......”

It was that look.

The same look his son always gave him whenever he had a difficult task to request.

“Would you be interested in moving to Seoul? With Mom.”

...Why was it that his bad premonitions never failed to come true?