A New Alliance
After that, I took over from Mom and laid everything out. What this island really was. What the people who had brought us here were actually after. The information was scarce and the evidence was paper-thin. For everything we couldn't prove, we had no choice but to fill in the gaps with speculation.
“Of course, everything I’m about to say is purely conjecture.”
With that disclaimer firmly in place, I shared the conclusion we had reached with Kaylee as well.
“I believe someone is still watching us right now. Like lab rats in a cage.”
They drive humans into extreme situations, then offer a narrow escape route. The problem is that the escape route is something no ethical person would ever want to take. Will a human accept those terms to survive? Or will they simply choose death?
“If both of you die, the story ends there. But if only one dies, the partner is left behind.”
Family. The person you cherish more than anyone else. The survivor can’t easily accept their family member’s irrational death. That’s probably why the system specifically pairs people with family members. Because if it’s to bring a dead family member back, the one left behind will do absolutely anything.
“The ones watching us are essentially saying this: ‘Well, you didn’t make the decision in time, so your son died. What are you going to do about it now?’”
Kaylee lowered her head, trembling. Her fists were clenched so tightly on the table that the veins stood out. Since this wasn’t about me, I hoped she wouldn’t take it out on me.
“To revive a dead person, you need ten thousand coins. After living here, you already know that’s not an amount you can gather through normal means.”
In that sense, the sudden mission to kill us must have been quite the lucrative offer. A thousand coins per head, plus every coin we already possessed. Especially since Seunghee had probably stockpiled several thousand coins herself. There couldn’t be a higher return-on-investment mission than that. Why don’t I ever get offers like that?
“It’s not as simple as just refusing to spend and hoarding. Food, clothing, basic daily necessities… even the simple act of breathing costs coins. This base may not look like much, but it consumed thousands of coins to build. Living like a human being on this island while trying to save money is impossible.”
“Then… how do you obtain the coins…?”
Kaylee’s ice-blue eyes locked onto mine.
“You’re already guessing, aren’t you?”
I could feel the tension rolling off her.
“It’s simple. You show the observers scenes that satisfy them.”
I raised my fingers one by one as I explained.
“Hunting. Murder. Sex. The more stimulating the footage, the more coins you receive. If you’re skilled enough, you could even hunt a dinosaur and collect everything in one go. Not that I would.”
Kaylee’s expression grew even harder. I kept my gaze steady and continued.
“I earned coins by having sex with my mother. To survive. Seunghee here is also sleeping with me. To gather the coins needed to revive her dead older brother. It’s the safest and fastest method available to us.”
Seunghee squirmed in embarrassment while Mom shot me a look that said I was being too blunt. But there was no point in sugarcoating it. If I wanted to avoid complaints later, I had to be crystal clear now.
“To put it bluntly, there is no method other than forming a partnership and having sex. Some people might condemn us for it. But even now, I believe that decision was correct. After all, both my mother and I are still alive.”
Unlike you. I left the last part unsaid.
Just looking at Kaylee proved our choice had been right. Her son was dead. Her only remaining options were to quietly accept death or sell her body to earn coins. Of course, that didn’t mean Kaylee had done anything wrong. Her son had only been seven years old. From the beginning, the system must have designed him to die. Still, if my mother and I had tried to endure without doing what Kaylee would now have to do, we would have ended up in exactly the same situation.
“Kaylee. What will you do?”
We had finally reached the main topic.
“If your desire to revive Noah hasn’t changed, we can help you using our methods. Of course, this isn’t one-sided charity. As much as we help you, you’ll need to help us in return.”
“What would helping you… entail, exactly?”
“Primarily, it would mean acting as a guard. As you can see, these two don’t have the strength to fight. So whether I’m away from the base or even when I’m here, I’d like you to help protect them from outside threats.”
For some reason Seunghee nodded vigorously. We had drawn up plans for her to fight in emergencies, but maybe that had been weighing on her more than I realized.
“Just so you know, Seunghee’s older brother was shot and killed by another survivor who came to our base.”
“Ah.”
“Because things like that happen, we want to stick to the safest possible path. If Kaylee is willing to cooperate with us, we would be very grateful.”
“But… I’m not particularly good at fighting, either…”
Kaylee looked troubled. I shrugged.
“I don’t know how to fight either. Still, I’m better than her, right?”
I patted Seunghee’s head.
“Why are you dragging me into this again?”
Ignoring her protest, I continued.
“I’m not asking for much. I’m not expecting you to kill other survivors. Simply having one more person capable of fighting means some battles can be avoided entirely. Just having you by my side would be incredibly reassuring.”
Kaylee fell silent, lost in thought. Mom, who had stayed quiet the entire time I spoke, finally opened her mouth.
“Kaylee. You said you want to save Noah, right? We’ll cooperate with you as much as we can.”
Mom’s voice was serious.
“It’s much better to gather strength with people who share the same goal than to fight alone.”
“Mom. If we add another person, your turns will decrease. Are you really okay with that?”
“It’s fine. Thanks to someone with way too much stamina, Mom’s been having a hard time too. We’ll need to set a proper order, but having one more person is just about perfect.”
Was she serious? I was a little worried her jealousy level might spike again.
“Besides, protecting Changjae all by himself must have been such a burden. I wish I could have fought too. I’m sorry.”
“What are you talking about? If it weren’t for you, Mom, I’d already be dead.”
“Oppa. What about me?”
“Seunghee… now that I think about it, maybe we’d be fine even without you?”
“That’s too mean!”
It was mean. But it was also true. I needed to revive Seungpil quickly and send her on her way.
“Kaylee, there’s no need to overthink it. If you don’t want to do it, I’ll stop Changjae myself. If that sort of thing is truly unbearable, you can stay here for a while to recover and search for another method in the meantime.”
Well, Mother. Isn’t that a little too convenient? If she leaves to look for another way, I’ll have no choice but to kill her.
“That’s not what I…”
It looked like Kaylee had something she wanted to say, but she kept glancing at me and couldn’t get the words out.
“Do you have something to tell us?”
“…Sister, could you come with me for a moment?”
“Hm?”
Kaylee took Mom to a corner of the dining area. A secret conversation? Or was she plotting something?
I watched them with sharp eyes. Nothing dramatic happened. They simply whispered to each other too quietly for me to overhear. Kaylee spoke with a grave expression while Mom listened, then smiled as if she understood and nodded. Both of them kept stealing glances in my direction.
“Ah~ Haha, it’s fine.”
The only words I managed to catch were Mom’s.
What on earth were they talking about?
A few moments later, the two women finished their conversation and returned to the table.
“Mom. What were you talking about?”
“You don’t need to know, Changjae.”
Mom was smiling brightly for some reason. What had they discussed? Something I wasn’t allowed to hear? Was this one of those things I was better off not knowing?
While I was still turning it over in my mind, Kaylee lowered her head toward the table and spoke.
“I’ll do it. Please take care of me.”
Had her conversation with Mom resolved her doubts? I had no idea. Still, it was good news that Kaylee had decided to join our group. Both as combat support and as a sex partner.
I hadn’t noticed before she cleaned up, but now that I looked at her properly, Kaylee was an incredibly attractive woman. Even setting aside her extraordinary height and the fact that she was a white foreigner, she was beautiful. She had a toned, muscular yet undeniably feminine body, a lovely face, and breasts that completed the package. Wasn’t this basically a cheat code? A foreign married woman who also happened to be a giantess… Athletes were supposed to have incredible stamina. Kaylee had probably been with her fair share of men, regardless of race.
…Would she even feel anything with an Asian man’s smaller equipment?
‘You can put it in now.’
‘I already did.’
‘Ah.’
Just imagining the scene was horrifying. Seunghee would definitely look down on me. My dignity as a man… That was my only real concern.
“You’ve made a wise decision. Please take good care of us from now on, Kaylee.”
“I’ll be in your care as well, Changjae-ssi.”
Hiding my inner worries, I shook hands with her. Her hand looked slender but felt surprisingly strong when I gripped it, not at all like a typical woman’s. As expected. This was the hand of a professional volleyball player. One good slap from her and I might actually pass out. I’d have to watch my step around Kaylee.
Ding♪ This is a female player without a partner. Would you like to form a new partnership?
Come to think of it, the same thing had happened with Seunghee. I pulled out my terminal and tapped [Yes].