Chapter 80: Begging Kids
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 80: Begging Kids
If there is one thing I hate above all else, it's kids.
Honestly, I don't really have a reason to hate them.
It's not like I have a loud, crying kid at home.
It's not like I get stressed out by a bunch of kids at my workplace.
And it's not like I wander around outside enough to run into them often.
For someone like me, who doesn't even meet people, let alone kids, the reason I hate them is, of course, because of the zombie apocalypse.
In a zombie apocalypse, kids, the elderly, and women are incredibly troublesome positions for new users, and a source of sheer annoyance for veterans.
Women are actually fine.
If they're pretty, you can at least fuck them.
But the problem was that in the zombie apocalypse, such sexual content was normally not allowed at all, making women a true object of avoidance.
Of course, that doesn't apply to every single woman, child, or elderly person.
As always, a few—or the majority—ruin the reputation of the whole.
I don't know how it would be if they were just normal people.
It's been a long time since I built a wall between myself and human relationships.
Not that I'm in any position to lecture anyone on humanity.
Perhaps because the NPC survivors in the zombie apocalypse have their personalities modeled after average people by the AI, they tend to exhibit the exact traits I used to hear about on online communities and galleries.
Women. Children. The elderly.
What these three have in common is the expectation that they must be protected.
In a zombie apocalypse where everyone is fairly granted stats, there are no weaklings.
If there are weaklings, it's only those with actual physical disabilities, or those who are too old and suffer a penalty that lowers their stats slightly.
That's it.
But humans are creatures of prejudice, judging by appearances.
It's always the bastards who can barely keep themselves alive who spout bullshit about 'protecting the weak' before dying first.
Dying to a zombie is actually a merciful end.
I've seen far too many cases where they get stabbed in the back, stripped of everything by the very 'weak' they tried to protect, and either killed or driven out.
Even putting all that aside, I just hate kids.
Kids are cunning.
Especially kids in an apocalypse.
At an age where they haven't learned social skills yet.
Since they are the most driven by pure instinct, they are incredibly quick to figure out how to get people to look after them and how to extract benefits, acting accordingly.
"Please... we're so hungry."
Crowding together in their filthy, disheveled states and begging like that—this clearly wasn't their first rodeo.
"What's going on?"
"Oppa!"
Kim Ji-hee was blocking the entrance of the food store, facing about a dozen children.
Seeing Oh Se-i inside packing up food, I could guess the general situation, but there was no need to jump to conclusions.
I could just ask.
"Um... these kids came and asked for some food... but they don't have a membership, and they don't have any coins... I tried to send them away, but they won't leave."
Seeing how she kept glancing at Oh Se-i as she spoke, Kim Ji-hee clearly had some grievances of her own.
Oh Se-i spoke to me with an air of confidence.
"They said they aren't being forced to beg. Their parents are starving, and the kids are having such a hard time that they came here on their own."
"And?"
"We can't just give away food for free, so I was packing up my own share to give them, but Ji-hee blocked me."
"You gave them food just a few days ago! If you keep giving it to them, they'll keep coming back!"
I never expected to witness such a shitty yet highly entertaining situation unfold live right in front of my eyes.
What a pleasant surprise.
Looking at Oh Se-i's face, her sheer confidence—as if she hadn't done a single thing wrong—was almost admirable.
For the past week or so, I had been wandering around outside to level up the Safe Base, so I hadn't paid any attention to what was happening back here.
Well, that, and the fact that Oh Yoon-seop and Lee Mi-sook, who had joined Kim Ji-hee, were doing a good job on their own. I trusted them to handle things, so I didn't feel the need to interfere.
Besides, Kim Ji-hee gave me a rundown of the major events every night before bed, so I thought everything was fine.
But this was something I hadn't heard about.
Either Kim Ji-hee had tried to sweep it under the rug on her own, or she had only just found out about it. It had to be one of the two.
It wasn't really something to blame Kim Ji-hee for.
She had been reporting everything else to me without filtering a single detail.
If there was one minor drawback, it was that her complete, submissive dependence on me could be a bit boring at times. Other than that, Dependency was a truly excellent mode.
According to what I heard from her about Oh Se-i's recent activities, Se-i had gone out hunting with Oh Yoon-seop a few times. After a couple of dangerous close calls, she had started working at the base at Yoon-seop's suggestion.
Sure, Se-i had a couple of Level 3 Combat Skills and had raised her basic stats decently, but Yoon-seop had a Level 5 Base Invincibility stat thanks to his "Resident" effect. He was currently leading a group of elites to search for nearby Level 2 and Level 3 Dungeons on my orders, so it wasn't really a place for Se-i to tag along.
She could have joined another hunting squad, but perhaps she had realized her own limits.
Or maybe she just wanted to help her mother.
Her main duties were organizing the food warehouse, transporting food to the cafeteria, and helping Kim Ji-hee manage the food store.
I think I heard something about it yesterday or the day before, but it wasn't important enough to register, so I just let it go.
Honestly, if she weren't Oh Se-i, she wasn't someone whose updates I'd care to hear.
She was Oh Yoon-seop's daughter, and since she was quite pretty and had a great body for an ordinary person, I had fucked her using the vaccine as an excuse. However, whether it was because she tried to emulate her father's integrity, or because she knew I had only slept with her under the guise of the vaccine, she didn't seem particularly eager to offer her body to me again. Since I was too busy to see her often anyway, I had just been sleeping with Kim Ji-hee, who was always around.
I did want to break that haughty attitude of hers at least once, but I was too busy to indulge in such games.
Forcing her down and taking her by strength wasn't my style.
There needed to be a proper buildup, a narrative arc, just like with Kim Ji-hee.
Anyway... since she had some authority and could take food for free under her "Resident" family privileges, it seemed her pity had been triggered.
"How much did you give them last time?"
"About twenty servings... apparently she gave them some Hetbahn, ramen, and water."
"And today?"
Today's haul was, if anything, even larger than what she just mentioned.
At my gesture, Oh Se-i approached with a disgruntled expression and set the packed food down on the floor.
It was about twenty-five servings.
I asked out of pure curiosity.
"Are you a pedophile by any chance?"
"...No."
"None of these kids look particularly appetizing, though."
"It's nothing like that."
"Hmm... You. How old are you?"
I asked the boy leading the children.
With a terrified expression, the boy replied.
"I'm... seventeen..."
"Looks like your dick hasn't even hardened yet."
"I told you, it's not like that!"
Oh Se-i snapped, flaring up.
"A cat mom, then?"
"What?"
"Did you go around feeding stray cats before the apocalypse?"
"..."
"So you were a cat mom."
She couldn't answer that.
For a second, she looked like she wanted to argue back, but she swallowed her words.
It seemed she had finally realized what I was getting at.
"I was just curious. I never really cared what goes on inside the brains of the dumbasses who waste their money and food on things like this. But seeing someone so close to me do it right in front of my eyes is a first. It's actually quite fascinating."
"It's surplus anyway. And I took it out of my own share."
Honestly, this is getting tedious.
Why do I have to engage in such a cliché argument?
But even though I knew better, I humored her with a reply.
"What 'share' of yours? Do you even have a role here? Do you honestly think your work is worth this much food?"
"..."
She probably kept busy.
There was a massive amount of work to do at the base.
Especially as my Safe Base level shot up, Kim Ji-hee would complain to me daily, mixing her grumbles with cute, flirtatious whines.
She kept saying they needed more hands to organize the supplies.
I had told her to just hire whoever she wanted, and it seemed Oh Se-i was the one she picked.
She had probably been cautious about hiring just anyone due to the risk of food theft, but then this happened.
In any case, even with Oh Se-i on board, organizing the food supplies was a monumental task.
Since supplies arrived four times a day, excluding sleeping hours, they had to process double the amount at once for one shift, and then organize the rest every six hours.
They wouldn't have a moment to rest.
And organizing wasn't the end of it.
They also had to help out in the cafeteria occasionally and sell goods at the food store.
Even if the membership system was well-integrated, meaning their only job at the store was staying put and restocking shelves.
Looking back, she probably had zero personal time.
But was that labor really worth this amount of food?
Just looking at it, the cost price alone easily exceeded 300 coins.
"I believe my work is worth at least this much."
"Se-i..."
`[Event Quest 4]`
– "Resident" Oh Yoon-seop and Lee Mi-sook's daughter, Oh Se-i, has expressed dissatisfaction with the faction. It is time to determine the faction's direction. Show the direction your faction is heading through your treatment of Oh Se-i.
– Reward: 2 Points, 3,000 Coins.
Just as I thought.
Whenever a "Resident" is involved, the probability of a quest appearing skyrockets.
Especially Oh Se-i, who was connected to two of the only three Residents we had. Even for me, she was someone I had to handle with extreme care to maintain the stability of the faction.
And right now, Kim Ji-hee, another "Resident," was here too.
Not to mention the numerous membership members who had come to buy food were watching.
Treatment, huh.
I had already decided what to do.
"If you disagree, then since this was my own independent action, I will accept the punishment. Just please let them take this food."
"Hmm."
"Kids. Take it and go, quickly."
I couldn't kill the cat mom.
Of course, the crime of embezzling my food without permission deserved death, but Se-i's words did make some sense.
And she might genuinely not know any better.
In a zombie apocalypse, ignorance is a sin, but Se-i had a powerful backing.
"...!"
I kicked one of the brats who had rushed forward to grab the food.
Watching the kid fly through the air like a kicked soccer ball, the others who were rushing forward froze.
I called over the seventeen-year-old, who was the oldest of the bunch.
And twisted his arm.
"Aaargh!"
I didn't want to repeat myself, so I used force first.
"Lead the way to your faction. I hate repeating myself, so if you say you don't know or ask any questions, I'll snap your neck and ask your little siblings next."
The seventeen-year-old nodded vigorously.
I gestured to Oh Se-i.
"Follow me."