Chapter 35
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Warmth in a Cruel World
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“Wow, what is all this?”
“Su-hee. This is a feast compared to what we used to eat!”
“My, my. Look at how hearty this all is. Just as expected of our lady of the house. Seems your glory days haven't left you, eh?”
“Oh-ho-ho. Did I do it all by myself? It was all thanks to these little cuties helping out.”
*Bzzzz— Bzzzzzz—!*
As if they understood she was pointing at them, the bees wiggled their bottoms, performing a figure-eight dance in response.
The charming sight brought a brief burst of laughter from the group.
Yeon Su-hee clapped her hands, drawing everyone's attention.
“Alright now, let’s save the praise for after you’ve had a taste, before the food gets cold. Oh! Seong-hyeok also gave us some honey soap, so make sure to wash your hands before you eat! There are also honey-glazed dried apples and jerky for dessert, so everyone grab some on your way out to work later.”
“...This is insane, boss!”
“I’d gladly be a lifelong slave to this place!”
“Hahaha! Seong-hyeok, my boy! Thank you so much!”
“Ahem. Let’s stop talking and, as Su-hee said, eat before it gets cold. And there’s no need to be polite or hold back. Let's all eat as much as we want. You've earned it.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Those are the words I was waiting for!”
Those who work hard deserve to eat well.
The moment Seong-hyeok, the owner of the farm, gave his permission, the group descended upon the food as if they had been waiting for this moment, eating voraciously.
“Wahahahat! It’s practically melting in my mouth!”
“Mmm! This is totally my style!”
“Su-hee, this is so good, you could die happy!”
“I know, I know, so eat slowly. It’s not like anyone’s going to steal it from you…”
The mealtime was a boisterous affair.
For Seong-hyeok, who was used to quietly enjoying the taste of honey with only his bees for company, it was a rather different experience, but not an unpleasant one.
How should he put it?
It finally felt like he was living among people.
‘It’s making me think of the orphanage.’
That, and for some reason, memories of his time at the orphanage came flooding back.
Aside from the bees, his most vivid memories were of the orphanage director, and of his orphanage family, who had scattered one by one through adoption by the time they reached middle school.
Their names and faces were now a blur.
He didn't know about the others, but in this topsy-turvy world, he wanted to pray that people like them and the director had found good jobs and hadn't died.
‘Well, if there's one thing they all had, it was tenacity. They weren't the types to die easily.’
If nothing else, this chaotic world was a game where the system assigned job traits based on the ‘karma’ of one’s past life.
Although his memories of the others, aside from the director, were faint, he knew that, as orphans, their tenacity and will to live were extraordinary. Seong-hyeok believed they would be doing just fine on their own.
“Seong-hyeok? Is it not to your liking?”
“Ah, no, I was just lost in thought.”
Was it because he hadn't touched his utensils while lost in his reverie?
At Su-hee’s concerned question, Seong-hyeok shook the distracting thoughts from his mind.
As always, there was nothing more foolish than worrying about every little thing.
For now, the top priority was to tend to the present, just like the bees diligently gathering honey for today and tomorrow.
“...It’s delicious, Su-hee. It really tastes like a home-cooked meal from my mom.”
“Oh, I’m so glad! Thank you for the compliment, hohoho!”
It was an incredibly sweet meal.
Seong-hyeok, who had lost his parents at a young age, pleasantly savored the feeling of his stomach filling up, along with the bountiful effects of the food.
* * * * *
While the honey-suckers of the bee farm were sweetly enjoying their meal with honey…
The state of society outside was changing at a dizzying pace.
The loss of life from the constantly respawning monsters since the world’s cataclysmic change was too great to even mention. Furthermore, since the #1 Chapter Update, field bosses and dungeon monsters had begun to display intelligent tactics.
Amidst this situation, a culling of sorts, where players were simultaneously getting stronger and dying off, the ‘Soldier VS Civilian’ event quest appeared as the finishing touch.
With the appearance of this quest, which was both short and long at 30 days, the players belonging to the soldier and civilian factions were thrown into absolute chaos.
“This is an order! Strengthen the perimeter security, and eliminate not only monsters but also any evildoers who approach!”
“Sir? W-what do you mean, platoon leader? We can handle the monsters, but how are we supposed to tell who the evildoers are?”
“...You will make that judgment on the spot! You’ve all been around long enough to be squad leaders; you should be able to tell right from wrong.”
“B-but even so…”
“This is an order from high command. So, for now, I expect you to follow it.”
An order to eliminate evildoers along with monsters, on top of strengthening their guard.
However, because of the event quest, it was impossible for both soldier and civilian players to determine whether someone was an evildoer or not.
Of course, they could try rescuing a few civilians first and ask them to identify the evildoers, but who could say whether those rescued civilians weren't ‘evildoers’ themselves?
Moreover, the confused soldiers were, in the end, only human.
The main draw of the event quest was the triple rewards.
On top of that, soldiers’ jobs came with the perk of being able to rise in rank as they leveled up, fitting for the special circumstances of the military.
‘It’s not like you get charged with a crime for killing people anyway, right?’
‘Yeah. Just think of them as monsters. Monsters with a 3x bonus.’
‘Who knows if those guys are really civilians or murderers who’ve killed people? I have to get stronger first to protect my own family!’
The chain of command was absolute.
Some soldiers couldn't help but be consumed by the desire to quickly become non-commissioned or commissioned officers, securing a position in the nation to be rebuilt, or simply to grow stronger as players.
“Ah, it’s the evildoers!”
“Kill them all!”
*Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat—!*
Was it not said that only the first step is hard, and everything after becomes easy?
Besides, this was not a sin borne by one person alone, but by the collective entity of the military.
They could even put forth the fine-sounding justification that it was a small sacrifice for the greater good of rebuilding the nation.
And above all, in this chaotic world where a game system was in effect, if you were to ask whether the military faction was overwhelmingly strong just because they were armed with modern weapons, the answer would be no.
“A group of evildoers has appeared!”
“M-murderers!”
“Return fire!”
“...What a load of crap. You crazy bastards pointing your guns at the weak. What? You’re calling us murderers? Talk about hypocrisy, you sons of bitches!”
“You were nowhere to be found when we needed you, and now you’re shooting at your own people? What kind of soldiers are you?”
“Boss. These guys are surprisingly weak.”
“Push into their ranks as much as possible. Once we’re mixed in, they won’t be able to shoot so easily.”
It wasn't just the soldiers who benefited from the Soldier VS Civilian event quest.
Players who were civilians could likewise obtain triple the loot.
Furthermore, while the soldiers had been confined within their bases, many players on the outside had grown stronger, conquering field bosses and dungeons. Among them were a considerable number of superhumans armed with all sorts of exceptional gear and high stats.
Thus, those who succeeded in effortlessly deflecting the hail of bullets and infiltrating the heart of the soldiers' formation began to slaughter them like wolves let loose among sheep.
It was a cruel end to what had surely begun as a situation where both factions had their own sense of justice and patriotism.
A gruesome scene where lives were extinguished in every direction and the smell of blood filled the air.
And there was a single entity watching these scenes as if viewing a movie.
—Kwahahaha! That’s right. Keep fighting, you livestock! That’s how useful livestock are born, by grinding each other down!
It was Riggle, the organizer and culprit behind this event quest, the pet of the Transcendent Beings in charge of managing the Korean server.
—This level of stimulation should produce footage worthy of entertaining the Transcendent Beings. Kekekek!
A pet of the Transcendent Beings, who dismissed the deaths of living creatures as mere entertainment.
In their minds, those deaths were not a cause for sorrow, but only for the pure joy of having produced footage worthy of receiving donations through the channels that would open later.
* * * * *
“Tsk. The harvest seems to be dwindling.”
The thick scent of blood stung her nose.
She smacked her lips in disappointment as she gazed upon the scattered corpses, but only for a moment.
As she watched with cold eyes, a faint smile graced the player's face when she noticed a small movement.
“Heh. I knew it!”
A tiny stir among the piles of bodies.
Heading over and moving a corpse aside, she found a single child, their face stained with tears, staring with wide eyes, alternating their gaze between the player and the body she had moved.
“D-daddy… Daddy, sob…”
“Hmm, so that’s what happened.”
It seemed the father had used his own body as a shield to hide and protect the child.
It was truly an indescribable act of fatherly love.
Honestly, in a hellish, chaotic world like this, was it really a good thing to survive?
The question arose, but it was never a good thing to throw away a life that had been saved against all odds.
“Hello, little one. My name is Cha Hye-rin. Just know that I have no intention of harming you. What’s your name?”
“...Joo-yong. Lee Joo-yong.”
“Alright, Joo-yong. I’ll give you a choice. Do you want to stay here? Or do you want to come with me to a shelter to live? It’s called Yeonbun Gukbap. There’s a grandma who’s foul-mouthed but makes one hell of a gukbap, and some big uncles protecting the place.”
“Hic. P-please take me with you.”
“Alright.”
Truthfully, in a post-apocalyptic world, a child who had lost their parents was not much of a help.
But Cha Hye-rin…
Perhaps it was because she too had lived the life of an orphan who had lost her parents.
She felt a strange sense of kinship, as if seeing her past self in the child, making it hard to even consider leaving him behind.
“It’s dangerous around here, so excuse me for a moment.”
In this chaotic world where monsters, evildoers, or soldiers could pop out at any moment, a crying child could be a liability.
After putting the child to sleep with a sleeping powder she created through a skill, Hye-rin hoisted him onto her back and began to move in earnest.
…….
As befitting a player who had chosen the 5-star unique job, Silent Step, not a single sound escaped her despite her quick and ample movements.
Thanks to this, none of the players positioned nearby had any idea that Hye-rin was passing through.
*Grin—*
For a moment, seeing their foolishness, the urge to harvest once more arose, but Hye-rin shook her head.
‘I’ll hold back for now.’
It would be one thing if she were alone, but with Joo-yong on her back, the child could be put in danger.
As she held back and continued on her way, she heard something.
*Oink, oink—*
*Oiiiink—!*
Hye-rin heard the welcoming sounds of piglets and adult pigs being raised in a pen, and along with them…
“Dammit all! Where’d you pick up another brat!”
The foul-mouthed curse of the player who had summoned those pigs and was the owner of the Yeonbun Gukbap shelter, Lee Yeon-bun, struck Hye-rin’s ears hard.
“...What, so I should have just left him there? His parents are dead. If I left him, he’d die for sure. I couldn’t just abandon him.”
“Aish! You and your soft spot for kids. Hurry up and wake him, then bring him to the diner. Look how skinny the poor thing is, he must have been starving! Tsk!”
“Hehe, okay.”
Even while being scolded by Yeon-bun, Hye-rin didn’t stop smiling.
Though she was prickly on the outside, Yeon-bun, the woman who had adopted and raised her like a mother, was nothing less than her savior.
“Welcome back, Miss Hye-rin.”
“And who’s this little guy?”
“This is Lee Joo-yong, a new member of the family. Please take good care of him from now on, uncles.”
“Hahaha, leave it to us, Miss.”
“Huirin and the others will be happy to have a new friend.”
“Heh heh. The kid’s got a sturdy frame. I’ll raise this one.”
“One bowl of the mistress’s gukbap, and he’ll be packing on muscle in no time! Gahaha!”
The Yeonbun Gukbap shelter—its members may look intimidating, but their inner strength and reliability were second to none.
Having run a long way to scout the area, she took out some honey tea from her pouch to soothe her weary body and drank it.
‘...Honeybee. The director, too… you’re both alive and well, right?’
A memory from the orphanage.
Recalling a boy who had been unusually obsessed with bees, Hye-rin prayed that whether he was Honeybee or someone else, he would survive for a long, long time in this chaotic world.