I watched them for two days from the monitor room.
And the conclusion I reached was that I needed to deal with these bastards.
After observing their behavior for two days, it seemed like they intended to stay here for quite a while.
I went through all the trouble of making this place look like an abandoned house—why are they trying to settle in?
Annoying.
I had enough food, and I wasn't desperate for a woman, so I wasn't planning on leaving anytime soon.
4 AM.
I finished all my preparations to go outside and quietly stepped out.
This mansion is my territory, and I know its layout better than anyone.
I slipped in silently through the kitchen side door, the quietest entry point.
The heavy silence of the house.
Those two were probably in the master bedroom.
It's the only place in this house with a bed.
Avoiding the scattered glass shards and trash on the floor, I made my way to the second floor.
Completely muffling my footsteps, I reached the master bedroom and pressed my ear against the door.
The low sound of a man snoring from inside.
Must be nice.
You come into a place like this and have the nerve to snore in your sleep?
Thinking that, I grabbed the doorknob—but then a strange feeling crept over me.
Why are they so bold?
From a common-sense perspective, their behavior didn't make sense.
I stood there dumbfounded for a moment, lost in thought.
If I had brought a woman to a place like this, how would I have acted?
At the very least, I wouldn't have been snoring loudly in the master bedroom like that.
Was I being overly sensitive?
No. This level of suspicion was justified.
This is a ruined world—a world where even the slightest mistake can cost you your life.
I completely scrapped my original plan of going inside the room.
Direct confrontation isn't my specialty.
My expertise lies in setting traps and waiting in ambush.
I turned around and headed for a corner in the adjacent room.
The master bedroom only had one door.
If I hid in the corner of the next room, I'd have a clear view of them when they stepped out.
I suppressed all sound and concealed myself in the corner.
They'd never expect someone to be hiding here.
In times like these, my chronic insomnia comes in handy.
How ironic.
Before the world ended, it was a terrible affliction—but now, it's the one thing that helps me survive more than anything else.
I crouched silently for four hours.
Half-dazed, I snapped back to attention when I heard faint voices.
Muffled conversation.
Click. The doorknob turned.
A short-haired man stepped out.
His upper body was bare, and his well-defined abs looked impressive.
They say if even a man thinks another guy is handsome, then he must really be good-looking.
Bastard. Hope your dick's only three centimeters. Please.
"Oppa! Did you deactivate it?"
"Ah. No, I didn't. That was close."
"Ugh! I told you to deactivate it right away! What if I accidentally step on it? Oppa, if I die, can you bring me back to life?"
"Sorry, sorry. I'll deactivate it now."
The man turned back to look at the woman and smiled.
Unfortunately, I couldn't see her from my position.
"Deactivate."
As soon as the man muttered those words, the floor right inside the doorway flashed briefly.
Watching that, a cold sweat ran down my spine.
No wonder… my instincts were right.
If stepping on it meant death, then it must be some kind of trap ability.
If I had barged in earlier at dawn, I'd probably be roasting in hellfire right about now.
"Done! Come here!"
At the man's words, the woman rushed over and jumped into his arms.
She was only wearing a bra and panties.
Compared to the man, who was handsome and well-built, the woman wasn't exceptionally pretty.
Well, no—she's pretty enough.
The fact that my dick is slowly hardening proves she's attractive.
Maybe my standards have gotten too high because of Ye-Ji?
"Sleep."
I put them to sleep first.
The two of them, still embracing, collapsed to the floor with a thud.
Then, I approached the man and swung my machete.
He vanished instantly, replaced by a golden pouch.
[16,422 Coins Acquired.]
"Damn bastard, you were loaded."
Let me be clear—I didn't kill him because I was jealous of his looks.
I killed him because he almost got me killed.
But the moment he died, a wave of regret suddenly hit me.
"Do traps disappear when the caster dies?"
There's no guarantee that the trap I saw was the only one.
I don't even know if traps vanish after death.
Suddenly, I was too scared to move.
But then again, the woman had walked over here just fine, so it should be safe, right?
Being a coward who values my own life above all else, I gripped my machete as far down the handle as possible and tapped the surrounding floor.
There might be a weight requirement to trigger them, but I had to check just in case.
After a thorough inspection, I concluded that there were no traps in the immediate area.
She wouldn't have set multiple traps right where she'd be walking, right?
Once I confirmed the path to the bed was safe, I turned my attention to the woman.
Red bra and panties.
A decent body—a little belly fat, but nothing major.
Short hair and glasses.
She's reasonably attractive, but… not quite on the same level as that guy.
What's the reason? Is her ability overpowered? No, maybe they were roughly matched in terms of level?
Either way, I couldn't just stand around.
I picked her up and carried her to the bed.
The funny thing is, just from touching her bare skin, my dick started hardening again.
Ah, fuck it. What's wrong with you, dick?
You're just acting on instinct, aren't you?
Maybe because she's short, but she wasn't as heavy as I expected.
Still, carrying a limp body isn't exactly easy.
After moving her to the bed, I pulled out duct tape and tightly bound her arms together before wrapping them to her torso.
I did the same with her legs.
I wasn't planning on doing anything to her here.
Right now, I just needed to extract information quickly.
After taping her eyes and mouth shut, I looked around.
I needed to find anything that could give me intel on them.
From the CCTV footage, I knew they both carried backpacks.
Food can be obtained from stores, but they'd still need to carry clothes and other essentials.
I rummaged through the smaller backpack by the bed and found the woman's wallet.
Even in a world like this, women always carry wallets.
And they're always designer brands.
I don't know if they've always had them or if they scavenged them after the collapse, but nine out of ten women I've seen carry luxury wallets.
Is it just the women I've encountered?
It's almost laughable.
I wasn't interested in anything else, so I immediately pulled out her ID.
Kang Min-Ji. 25 years old.
Now that I had her name, I gave her ass a sharp slap.
"Mmm."
Even in her sleep, she twitched at the sting on her butt.
Huh. This is kinda exciting.
Since I usually use sleep skills, I've rarely done anything that would wake women up.
I've never forcefully roused a sleeping woman like this before.
With low-level sleep skills, even minor disturbances can wake someone—but my skill is high enough that this level of impact won't do it.
I slapped her ass again.
"Mmm…"
Her butt, now red from the shape of my hand, looked obscenely erotic.
"She still won't wake up?"
I smacked her once more.
This time, the smack was loud enough to echo.
My palm stung from the force.
"Mmm—mmph! Mmm!"
She woke up.
Realizing she was restrained, she began thrashing violently.
Most women, even knowing they can't break free, struggle instinctively in this situation.
Is it reflex? Then again, staying still would be even more terrifying.
"Stop wasting your energy, or I'll kill you."
I whispered this into her ear from behind.
She immediately jerked her head toward me, but I pressed it down, forcing her to freeze.
"I told you not to waste your energy."
Leaning closer, I murmured into her ear again.
"Min-Ji. I'm going to remove the tape from your mouth now. If you make a single sound beyond answering my questions, we'll kill you on the spot. Understood?"
When I said her name, she flinched.
Then, she nodded desperately.
I peeled off the tape, and she gasped for air.
"What's your skill?"
"Sob… it's a protective barrier."
Still sniffling, she obediently answered.
When I told her to demonstrate, she activated it immediately.
"Pro… protect."
An opaque shield formed around her and me.
Huh. A standard barrier.
It's one of the most common skills women choose.
Out of all the women I've seen so far, about four or five had barrier skills.
They probably don't have the confidence to attack others but still want to protect themselves.
"What was the man's skill?"
"E-electrified traps."
"How many can he set at once?"
"Huh…?"
"Traps. How many can he set?"
"I… I don't really know."
"Kill her."
"Aah! I really don't know! I swear!"
"What are you doing? Kill her already."
"It's true! I don't know! Sob… Please don't kill me. Spare me."
"How many have you seen him set at once?"
"I don't know… Sniff. I've only ever seen him set one. Sob."
She probably genuinely doesn't know.
Just one, huh?
Now I understand why they holed up in a room with only one exit.
If he could only set one trap, a single entrance would actually be more advantageous for them.
Still, amateurish.
If he wanted to level up his trap skill, there were plenty of ways to do it.
Higher proficiency would've likely increased the number he could set.
As I stayed silent, Min-Ji trembled, anxiously glancing around as if straining to hear even the faintest sound.
A barrier, huh?
Not bad. It's not overly dangerous, and it's useful.
The house is nearby, and she's decent-looking enough.
Maybe I'll give it a try.
"Sleep."
I put her to sleep again.
If there was only one trap, there was nothing to fear.
An electrified trap? Why would he pick that? That guy was weird.
First, I stepped outside to scan the area and confirm no one was around.
Then, I moved my supplies, the dead man's belongings, and Min-Ji's things into the bunker.
Finally, I hauled the unconscious Min-Ji over my shoulder and carried her inside.
Going down the ladder was a bit of a struggle, but once I got her inside, I slumped in exhaustion.
"Whew."
This is the first time I've brought someone into this bunker since I built it.
A new experiment.
The thrill and excitement of what's to come made my dick twitch with anticipation.