The New Bathtub's Secret Option

It was obvious that the new bathtub had a secret option. Mom and Seunghee both reached climax in an instant. That kind of speed would be impossible with normal sex. It was too fast—far too fast. The same went for me. The moment I came once inside Mom, my whole body went limp. It felt like I’d gone three full rounds back to back. You could blame it on being worn out after a bath, but the effect was extreme. Did this tub come with some kind of life-force absorption feature?

In the end, we fled the bathroom immediately afterward.

“I’m going to rest for a bit…”

“Ah. Me too.”

“Then shall we all take a nap together?”

With unanimous consent, we decided to spend the rest of the day resting properly.

“Sleep well.”

The three of us lay side by side on the bed and fell asleep.

The next morning arrived.

“Mom. I’ve been thinking about installing CCTV.”

“CCTV? We have something like that?”

“Yes.”

It was a security system I had kept putting off because we might need to relocate our base or spend coins on other things. But we had invested quite a lot in this hideout by now, so moving again seemed unlikely. It felt like the right time to install proper equipment.

In the beginning the shop only carried crude traps and tripwires that looked like they belonged in the Vietnam War, but as my Metapia terminal leveled up, advanced devices like CCTV had been added to the catalog.

Traps and mines might have been more efficient, but someone as scatterbrained as Seunghee could easily wander around and trigger one by accident. An innocent resident might get hurt too. So CCTV became the next best choice.

“It might make our presence even more obvious, though.”

That was the real problem. While we could monitor the area with the cameras, other people might spot them and realize someone lived here. The steel door on the cave was already suspicious enough. Even then, they couldn’t be certain there were actually people inside. But CCTV was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠different. It was an item that would make it obvious this was a managed zone.

“So I’ve been debating whether it’s really okay to install it.”

“Hmm~ I see what you mean.”

Mom put her head together with mine and thought it over.

“Still, I think installing it would be better.”

“You do?”

“Yes. Even if someone finds out there are people here and comes looking, it doesn’t mean they’ll definitely be bad, right? They might be someone who needs help, like last time.”

“Hmm.”

I saw that as a problem in its own right. If people started showing up from everywhere begging for help, things would get troublesome fast. After all, as long as you had a partner, you could earn coins on your own. I had zero interest in people who refused to earn anything themselves and only wanted to latch on and leech.

“I know what you’re thinking, Changjae. But there will be people like last time who genuinely can’t solve their problems alone, won’t there?”

“Well… yes.”

That foreign woman had said her son was seven years old. It must have been impossible for them to handle the situation by themselves. Still, I saw that as an extremely rare case. Besides, I didn’t believe every person we helped would feel genuine gratitude.

But Mom’s mindset was different from mine.

“We’re not in serious trouble right now, so I think we should help people whenever we can.”

Mom had always been kind by nature. She wanted to help those in need and share whatever she had. That was probably why she had raised me like her own child. But honestly, I thought that personality was a liability in this situation. She was far too easy to take advantage of.

“Okay. We’ll do that.”

No matter what I thought on the inside, I agreed with her for now. Otherwise Mom would be sad.

Seunghee, who had been listening quietly from the side, suddenly jumped in.

“Ah! You were thinking ‘I absolutely shouldn’t do that’ just now, weren’t you? I know everything.”

“Seunghee, I told you to stay out of this. Do you really want to get kicked out?”

This kid. She’d been getting bolder lately because I’d been treating her nicely. Her behavior was exactly like her older brother’s.

“See, sis? He does it right away.”

Seunghee ducked behind Mom to avoid me.

Mom laughed softly.

“It’s all because he likes you, Seunghee.”

“Aha. Oppa, was that it? Hehe.”

“Let’s just drop it.”

I decided to ignore Seunghee and proceed with installing the CCTV. I also believed the advantages outweighed the disadvantages. You couldn’t refuse to make fermented food just because you were afraid of maggots. We couldn’t stay hidden forever simply because we feared visitors.

“Oppa, get this one. The red one.”

As I browsed the options on my terminal, Seunghee interrupted again. The model she picked was a bright red CCTV—the most eye-catching version available.

“Why don’t you just put up a sign that says ‘people live here’ while you’re at it?”

“But it looks like a flower. Maybe if someone sees it from far away they won’t realize it’s a camera?”

“Have you seen any flowers since we ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠got here?”

“Hmm? Umm… now that you mention it, I don’t think I have…”

She was right. The island was covered in grass and trees, but flowers were almost nonexistent.

“Then wouldn’t a bright red flower blooming out of nowhere make people curious enough to come take a look?”

“I guess it would… hehe.”

I passed on anything too noticeable. The least conspicuous option seemed to be the gray model that resembled a rock. If I mounted it on the cave’s outer wall, it probably wouldn’t stand out much.

Five hundred coins total for one high-end camera and one monitor. Low-end cameras were cheaper but lacked night vision. Since night vision was essential, the high-end model was non-negotiable. For the monitor I chose the wall-mounted version to save space. It was expensive, but a necessary expense.

I placed the monitor beside the door so everyone could see it and mounted the camera above the hideout entrance where it could capture the entire exterior.

We gathered in front of the newly installed monitor. Both Mom and Seunghee were fascinated by the new toy.

“Wow. The picture quality is amazing.”

“Now we’ll know right away if anyone comes.”

The monitor displayed a crystal-clear view of the area outside the hideout. Yesterday’s dinosaur footprints, the broken trees, and the ruined garden were all visible. The resolution was so good I felt like I could even spot a single ant crawling by.

“Hmm, like this…”

I could zoom in or out on any section by touching the screen.

“Huh? Oppa, over there.”

“Where?”

When I zoomed in for a moment, Seunghee seemed to have spotted something.

“There. A sprout came up.”

“A sprout?”

I enlarged the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠garden area at her words. But the garden itself showed no change. It was still a mess of dinosaur footprints.

“Not there. Look at the footprint area.”

“Hmm?”

“Oh. You’re right. There really is a sprout.”

Mom, who had been staring intently at the monitor, said the same thing as Seunghee. When I zoomed in further, a tiny green sprout was barely visible in the middle of one of the dinosaur footprints.

“That’s where Ppiyak pooped yesterday.”

“Ah, that.”

“Really?”

Yesterday Ppiyak had proudly shown us his poop for some reason. I’d wondered why he felt the need to show us, but apparently there had been a reason behind the boasting. The sprout had grown instantly in the exact spot where we had watered the garden after feeding him seeds.

“Oh my. So feeding him the seeds wasn’t in vain after all.”

Mom clapped her hands together in delight.

“Is that how it works?”

It probably wasn’t completely unrelated, but if I used this as an excuse to keep feeding him that much, it would become a problem.

“Does this record too?”

“Yes. It doesn’t record everything, but it probably starts recording when it detects movement, like a black box.”

“Really?”

“Yes. It’ll probably sound an alarm if someone walks by too.”

“Oppa, go outside for a second.”

Mom and Seunghee looked at me with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠expectant eyes.

“Sure.”

I had been planning to do exactly that anyway. I needed to check whether the CCTV was working properly.

-Creak.

I stepped outside the hideout carrying only my spear. The CCTV mounted above the door blended in with the color of the rock wall, so it really didn’t stand out. I knew it was there, but if I hadn’t, I probably wouldn’t have noticed it.

“How is it? Can you see me?”

I waved at the camera.

“We can see you clearly. The sound works too.”

Seunghee’s voice answered from inside the hideout. The CCTV seemed to be functioning without issues.

While I was out, I went to check the sprout I had seen on the monitor with my own eyes. A small green sprout had emerged right in the center of a dinosaur footprint. It was a strangely fascinating sight.

“Maybe I should water it.”

But first, I took out my terminal and opened the map. Just as I expected, there was a person marker very close by.

“Ah! Oppa! Behind you!”

Seunghee must have seen it on the CCTV too.

“Yeah. I know.”

I answered quietly and gestured for them to close the door.

-Creeeaaak. Clang.

The door shut. I stood up and turned around.

“Who’s there?”

-Rustle.

I could sense a presence. Just in case, I pointed my spear in that direction and waited. Soon, a figure emerged from behind a tree. It was someone I had seen once before—the foreign woman who had lost her son.