The Price of Kindness
Shin Roa had parents. In this world, such children were rare. It was an era when finding a man was difficult, and bearing a child from a man's seed was no easy feat. Most children were born from Clone Creation Points without a father. A child with both parents was akin to a blessed bloodline in itself.
And Shin Roa was a woman worthy of that blessing. Even in a large organization, acquiring and mastering medical knowledge in this world was no simple task. But Roa did it. She was wise, brilliant, and patient. She studied and studied. She explored, mastered, learned, and applied her knowledge. Before she even turned thirteen, she had already become someone who could treat patients better than the doctors the organization already had.
She was even kind. In this world, kindness was a symbol of extravagance. It was a luxury for those who could afford to give away what they had, to bear losses and still survive unscathed. Her large breasts, bearing the marks of having eaten her fill, were seen as a "symbol of nobility" on par with her loyal subordinates—a mark of her dignity and benevolent nature.
Roa's father was indifferent to her, but her mother loved her. She even had a little sister. A competent, kind-hearted doctor with a warm soul and impeccable bloodline. She was a woman with every qualification to be loved by all.
But sadly, she didn't know restraint. Her kindness led to her downfall.
"P-Please! I beg you! If this goes on, we're all gonna die!"
It was a band of scavengers wandering nearby who came pleading for help. Naturally, the organization Roa belonged to chased them away. They had no medicine to spare, couldn't let them in, had no intention of making them scavenge food or use them as slaves. Even if they died of illness, it wasn't the organization's concern.
But not for Roa.
"C-Come out... at night, secretly. I'll treat you."
She couldn't bear seeing people suffer. She couldn't accept that someone was in pain from illness or wounds right before her eyes when she could save them. Perhaps she was naive about the world. Or maybe the world had no choice but to seem naive before her.
All those who had refused her treatment, calling it divine punishment or their time to die, or saying there was nothing to be done, ended up healing completely. And they repaid her with happy smiles. They made her feel joy. Shin Roa naturally thought treating them was no big deal. And in truth, it wasn't that difficult.
Shin Roa devoted herself wholeheartedly, sneaking out of the organization to treat them in secret. They healed completely. But the scavengers, deprived of proper rest and nutrition, kept coming back with new ailments. Sneaking medicine and slipping out at night had its limits.
"You're grounded. No going out."
Her father declared it coldly, ordering her not to leave. She protested, but no one listened to Roa, who wasn't even an adult yet. And that became the spark of tragedy.
"Fuck, we're under attack!"
"Grab your weapons, everyone! Protect the kids and non-combatants!"
"Anyone who can fight, get out here! We have to fight!"
No matter how large the organization, their entire living area wasn't protected as a base. The only places under system protection were small homes where men resided. Most were just ramshackle neighborhoods with flimsy partitions. And those burned all too easily.
"...Huh?"
People were dying. To Roa, it was unbearably sad and painful. Wounds that took immense effort to treat were appearing in the blink of an eye. A bullet had lodged in the chest of the restaurant lady she'd been friendly with just yesterday.
"Auntie!!!"
She could still save her. Shin Roa desperately dragged the injured woman toward the safe zone—the man's house. And that's when her eyes met the attacker's.
"Huh?"
It was someone she'd saved. Someone she'd healed. They didn't shoot at Shin Roa.
"...Huh?"
It was heartbreaking. Her intentions had been pure—to save someone, to protect the wounded, to bring happiness to the dying. Yet that decision had created death.
"Roa! What are you doing? Run, quick—"
Her mother's voice called to her. The moment Shin Roa spun around to flee again, tragedy struck.
"M-Mom...?"
A bullet pierced her throat. Another hit her head.
"Ah..."
Her beautiful mother's face was instantly smeared with blood and brains.
"Run... quick..."
She knew. There was no saving her. Not even Shin Roa, the organization's top doctor and genius physician.
"Aaaaaaaaaah!!!"
Shin Roa plunged into endless self-loathing. If she hadn't helped those people, if she hadn't saved them, today would have been just like yesterday. Eating at the restaurant lady's, rolling around with her mother, studying medical texts, treating the injured, doing checkups. Living a life recognized and loved by all, just like before.
"Sis, let's go! Hurry!"
Her young sister, Heea, grabbed her arm. Snapping back to reality, Roa ran and ran.
"Ahh..."
"Heea, blood. Blood!"
"It's okay, it's okay..."
Admirably, her sister said nothing despite blood pouring from her stomach.
"Uwaa, ah, aaah..."
"Get in, quick! Hurry!"
Making it to the safe zone, Roa treated Heea with trembling hands. Three bullets were already embedded in her body. Left alone, she'd die. Roa poured every skill and remaining medicine into saving her.
"Ah."
The injured kept pouring in endlessly. Heea treated them. She realized how reckless she'd been. The smell of blood felt more acrid than ever today.
/////
In the end, they were just scavengers. Once the combat team women outside returned, they were easily subdued. No mercy was shown. They all died.
People wondered why the group had attacked, but Roa knew.
'She stopped treating us...'
They must have harbored resentment. Tried to kidnap Roa. In the end, the organization was right. Her mother had been right. Showing them mercy was something that shouldn't be done. It endangered everyone in the organization just to feel good about herself. She should have let them die.
And Roa paid the price in the saddest, most tragic way.
"Mom..."
But the tragedy that befell her wasn't over.
"Shin Heea can't do anything right now, and she keeps needing medicine for treatment. We... have to give up on her."
"N-No, don't abandon Heea..."
"We can't. We can't all die just to save one Heea, right?"
The organization had suffered heavy losses too. Most stockpiled supplies burned, countless non-combatants injured or dead. In such a situation, they couldn't keep someone who was no help.
'Because of me...'
Roa bit her lip. If her mother, loved by the man, were alive, Heea wouldn't be cast out. If the organization and Heea's body were intact, she wouldn't be abandoned. But Heea's body, pierced by bullets, wouldn't heal easily. The cursed bullets kept weakening her mind and body.
"..."
Roa looked at the survivors. People who needed her. People she couldn't leave. People who'd already suffered needless pain because of her sin. Staying for them, abandoning her sister—perhaps that was the "kind" thing to do.
But Roa remembered losing her mother when she'd done the "kind" thing. She couldn't lose her remaining sister too, just to do another "kind" act for these people. She couldn't abandon Heea, who'd rushed to her, giving up safety for Roa's sake.
So she fled with Heea under cover of night.
And many things happened. They fought zombies, scoured dungeons for bases. It was hunger, pain, hardship. Surviving alone was tough enough, let alone with a sister who couldn't even stand on her own.
But Shin Roa kept fighting. She had no choice. She forced herself not to care about others' pain, to loot money and food from corpses without hesitation, to deceive and survive without qualms. She couldn't lose her one remaining hope, her sister.
Having lost everything, Roa could never return to that extravagant life. A life where everyone loved her, and she could love everyone. Good deeds were a luxury far too costly for her to afford.