One Week on the Island
It had already been a full week since we arrived on the island. In that single week, so many things had happened. Seungpil died. I ended up with my mother. I took in Seungpil’s little sister, Seunghee. Things that would have been unimaginable in normal life had become our everyday reality here.
Starting from the third day of our deserted island life, we holed up inside the hideout. It was too dangerous outside, and we needed to gather coins as safely as possible. From then on, it was nothing but an endless haze of sex. Wake up in the morning and have sex with Mom. Eat lunch and have sex with Seunghee. At night, have sex with both of them at the same time. Using the excuse that it was all to earn coins, we went at it like animals every single day.
At this rate, our bodies wouldn’t last. Feeling the threat to our lives, I started exercising again to build up my stamina. Of course, it was only the simple workouts I could do inside the hideout. The only equipment I bought was a set of dumbbells that didn’t take up much space. Everything else was just bodyweight exercises—push-ups, sit-ups, squats.
It was a good thing that both Mom and Seunghee started working out with me. Stamina was important, after all. And Mom looked incredibly sexy when she exercised.
There were other changes too. As my Metapia Terminal leveled up, the shop started selling more convenience items. One of them was this “Insect-Repelling Candle.” Just as the name suggested, it was a candle that eliminated bugs. When lit, it cleared all insects within a thirty-meter radius. It even smelled nice. Its effect was weaker than Mom’s swimsuit, but for us who rarely left the hideout, it was more than enough.
“Mom, how about this outfit?”
Thanks to that, Mom could finally wear something other than the insect-repelling bikini. Her bikini look was always a feast for the eyes, but she couldn’t wear the same thing every day.
“No way. This kind of clothes doesn’t suit me at all.”
“I want to see you in it. Come on? Just try it on once, Mom.”
“You really…”
Once again, I convinced Mom to wear a new outfit I’d bought for her. It was an H-line dress that clung tightly to her body, perfectly outlining her figure. The so-called “new-town milf look.”
“How could I possibly walk around wearing something like this?”
Mom’s face flushed as she checked herself in the mirror. The way it accentuated her breasts and hips was nothing short of artistic. My eye for fashion had been spot on.
“It’s not like we’re going outside. Who cares? I’m the only one who’ll see it. And you look absolutely stunning, Mom. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“She’s right, sis. You look amazing. It suits you perfectly.”
Seunghee chimed in from the side. The ice cream I’d bribed her with had been worth it.
“Oh, you two…”
Mom looked troubled but eventually agreed to wear it. Mom’s charm stat increased by 20%.
Mom always protested at first, but she would eventually give in if I asked. They say no mother can resist her son, right? Especially if I called her “Mom” in a casual tone while asking—it was an instant pass. I was worried I’d been using that trick too often lately and the effect might be wearing off.
“Oppa! Buy me new clothes too!”
Seunghee had become incredibly shameless these days. Or maybe she had always been like this?
“Didn’t I just buy you some the day before yesterday?”
“They’re uncomfortable to work out in.”
“Just wear the bikini. That’s the most helpful thing for you.”
“Tch. I’m already wearing the bikini underneath, you know?”
With that, Seunghee slightly pulled down her pants to show me the bikini. I sighed.
“You don’t have to show me. I believe you.”
The bikini I’d given Seunghee was actually a very special item. Even after scouring the entire shop, there weren’t any other items with pet-related options. Her swimsuit’s stats were [Pet hatching speed, growth speed, intimacy gain, and all stats increased by 33%]. Since we hadn’t hatched a single pet yet, I couldn’t be completely sure, but anyone looking at those options would immediately realize they were far from ordinary.
“The first hatching is tomorrow, huh.”
There were currently three Pet Eggs waiting in the incubator. One golden egg and two normal ones. All three were lined up neatly on the table inside the incubator. When my terminal had leveled up before, a message appeared saying I could raise up to three pets at once. Whether these “pets” were just literal pets or helpful companions like in games, I had no idea. We wouldn’t know until they actually hatched.
But they might be useful. So for that “might,” we decided to raise the maximum of three.
The first golden egg I obtained had 69 hours left until hatching. Roughly three days from now. Even though I got it first, it was hatching the latest. That probably meant it would be a rare pet. The other two had 13 hours and 45 hours remaining. So starting tomorrow, we could expect one new pet every day.
“What if something useless comes out? Can we eat it?”
“Don’t say such ominous things!”
When I muttered while looking at the eggs that were almost ready to hatch, Seunghee got angry from beside me.
“What if it’s a pet that just eats and shits all day? Pet food is expensive too.”
The pet couldn’t just be a simple pet. It had to be something that would help us in some way. If it was purely for decoration, it would just be another mouth to feed. In that case, it would be better not to have one at all.
“I’ll buy the pet food with my own coins, so don’t worry!”
“Huh? But I bought the eggs?”
Seunghee was already acting like their owner. And if she spent coins on them, what about Seungpil? I was worried. Both Seunghee and Mom had been full of anticipation ever since they learned pets would soon hatch from the eggs. They tried to guess what would come out, or agonized over names even though they had no idea what they’d get. If they got attached before the pets even hatched, it would be hard to deal with them later.
What if a pig came out? A pig that was only useful for its meat. It wouldn’t help with our daily life and would only drain pet food (coins). But once we got attached, we wouldn’t be able to eat it. It would be a complete nuisance.
…Maybe I could secretly feed it to the dinosaur? But Mom would be sad, so that was out of the question. This was tricky.
“Don’t listen to this uncle. Hurry up and hatch, okay? Noona will take good care of you.”
Seunghee would sometimes stroke the eggs and talk to them like this. It was a little scary.
*
“Hoo…”
I brewed a hot cup of coffee and sat down at the table. Coffee on a deserted island. A chuckle escaped me at how far my fate had fallen. The past few days had been filled with this kind of leisurely lifestyle. It had gotten to the point where I couldn’t tell if we were really on a lawless deserted island or just vacationing in Hawaii.
Was it really okay to live like this? We were steadily earning coins, so I told myself it was fine, but the anxiety in my heart refused to disappear. For all I knew, other survivors might be forming cartels right now and preparing to invade us. The image that came to mind was a South American cartel heavily armed with firearms. Even if I had made the minimum preparations, there was nothing I could do alone against the power of a group.
“Huu…”
I sipped my coffee and shook off the dark thoughts. I was being too extreme. I had prepared as much as I could. I couldn’t be completely at ease, but there was no need to create unnecessary worries either. Maybe the other survivors were really just building huts one straw at a time like actual castaways.
…No way. Even so, that probably wasn’t the case… right?
“One, two, three…”
I wasn’t the only one living such a laid-back life. Over there, Mom and Seunghee had laid out mats on the floor and were doing yoga. Mom said she had learned yoga when she was young. She claimed she’d forgotten most of it and was just imitating the poses, but to my eyes, Mom’s yoga form looked more beautiful and perfect than any professional instructor’s.
Especially those leggings—they were truly a wonderful invention. Whoever came up with them was a genius. How did they even think of making something like that into everyday wear? Thanks to that, I was happily raising my happiness meter while watching Mom do yoga today.
Whenever she pressed her upper body to the floor and lifted her hips, or lay on her back and spread her legs wide apart toward the ceiling, I unconsciously focused my gaze. Sometimes when our eyes met, Mom would shoot me a glare that seemed to say, “Don’t look at me like that!” Of course, she never actually stopped me from looking. I would pretend to look away for a moment, then go right back to staring.
While Mom and I were in a romantic and physical relationship, our mother-son relationship still came first. That kind of glare was like an unwritten rule to preserve her identity as a mother.
“Ugh… ngh…”
And Seunghee was learning yoga from Mom. Since she wasn’t very flexible, just trying to copy Mom’s poses was already too much for her. Watching from the side, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Seunghee, I’ll help press you down.”
Mom, unable to watch any longer, offered to help. But the moment Mom pressed down on her back, Seunghee immediately screamed and made a huge fuss.
“W-wait, sis! Ah, aaaaah, it hurts!!”
When the startled Mom let go, Seunghee rolled around on the floor clutching her hip joint. Mom let out a sigh as if she couldn’t help it. Seunghee really was entertaining.
I was laughing to myself while watching her when my eyes suddenly met Seunghee’s teary ones. She stuck her tongue out at me playfully. Hmph. This girl was definitely going to get punished in bed tonight.
While I sipped my coffee and pondered how to tease Seunghee later, a strange noise rang out.
-Bang. Bang.
The warm, peaceful atmosphere inside the hideout froze solid in an instant. The sound had come from the iron door at the hideout entrance. Everyone shut their mouths and communicated only with their eyes. Fortunately, we had already discussed what to do in a situation like this.
-Thud. Thud. Thud.
The knocking grew louder. This wasn’t a coincidence. It was clearly someone deliberately knocking with intent.
“Changjae…”
Mom looked at me with anxious eyes. Seunghee did the same. Both of them were relying on me and only me. I downed the still-hot coffee in one gulp. My throat burned. It felt like my mind had snapped into focus.
──It’s finally here.
I stood up from my seat.