The Second Survivor Group

The day's hunt had ended in failure once again. Lee Incheol, the leader of the survivor hunting party, trudged back with heavy steps and empty hands. It had already been nine days since they were dropped onto this mysterious uninhabited island. They were reaching a dangerous point where they desperately needed to find a breakthrough.

The faces of the men who had joined him on the hunt were etched with exhaustion and resignation. Though no one spoke it aloud, resentment was clearly building inside them. The luxury of even taking showers had only lasted the first few days. Now they could barely manage to wash properly, and even securing a single meal had become a constant worry.

“Everyone, let’s just hang in there a little longer.”

“Yeah, sure…”

Even when Incheol tried to rally them with encouragement, few responded with any real energy. As a former Marine who had also served as student council president at a prestigious university, he had always been confident in his ability to lead people. That was why, when he found himself stranded on this island with strangers, he had naturally stepped up to become the group’s leader.

But reality proved far harsher than he expected. Incheol was learning the hard way that the kind of leadership that worked in society only functioned because society itself provided the necessary structure. In an extreme situation where every single resource was scarce, his upright, principled style of leadership wasn’t enough to overcome their circumstances. Perhaps someone more cunning and ruthless would have been better suited for the role. If that had been the case, they might have even completed that mission and claimed the reward.

Yet because he was the leader, Incheol could never bring himself to accept it.

The mission content was enough to make anyone ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠doubt their eyes. Watch your partner’s genitals while they were peeing? And his partner was none other than his own younger sister, Inyoung. There was no way he could ever do it.

The mission had appeared early on, back when they still had no idea how much value those coins even held. They had been told that no matter what they did on this island, they wouldn’t face legal punishment, but that didn’t change anything. The thought of completing the mission had never once crossed his mind.

If only I weren’t the leader…

If someone else had been in charge, he could have quietly opposed it while pressuring the actual leader to take responsibility and complete it. But as the leader himself, Incheol could never tell the others to do something he refused to do.

In the end, he had gathered all the men in the group and they agreed together not to complete any missions of that nature. The other men also suspected that this island was some kind of sick hidden-camera test designed to probe human morality. They decided it would be best to avoid doing anything that might cause awkwardness or shame once they eventually left the island.

Besides, even in a survival situation, if the death toll grew too high, the producers would surely have to take action. The general consensus was to endure as long as they possibly could.

Easy to say when you still have the strength to endure.

Incheol smiled bitterly. At first, the survivors had been relatively united. Bonds had formed among those sharing hardship together. But as the grueling daily struggle continued without relief, dissatisfaction grew. The complaints from some of the women in particular had grown especially loud. Eventually, four people—two men and two women—had left the group two days ago in an explosive argument.

At least that was for the best…

It ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was a relief that the seeds of discord had removed themselves. But unless the fundamental problems were solved, the same thing would inevitably happen again. The lack of supplies. Their hunting skills were pathetic, and they had no talent for crafting tools. If only they could at least secure enough food to keep everyone fed.

What on earth should they do…?

Once again, the tempting whisper of the mission resurfaced in his mind. Incheol shook his head violently to dispel it.

That is the one thing I will never do!

After the initial voyeur mission, several more had appeared. Most of them involved touching his partner’s body or performing acts that resembled sexual intercourse. For blood-related siblings like them, these missions were utterly impossible to complete.

Unable to come up with any proper solution, Incheol and the men returned to their base empty-handed. They hadn’t caught even a single rabbit, but the long trek had left them just as exhausted.

“We’re back.”

“Oppa!”

As always, his younger sister Inyoung was the first to come out and greet them. Seeing her bright eyes and unwavering smile even in these harsh conditions, Incheol felt his resolve weaken for a moment before steeling himself once more.

“Inyoung, did anything happen while we were gone?”

“Nope. But oppa, we got some meat!”

“…Meat? What kind of meat?”

“She’s right, Mr. Incheol. Come take a look.”

The other survivors who had stayed behind were huddled together around the campfire. In front of it lay several large vacuum-sealed packages of meat.

“Meat…? Where did this come from?”

“Hehe. I found it.”

The one who answered was his sister Inyoung. But the story made no sense.

“You found it? Where?”

“Over there. It was just lying in the grass.”

She pointed toward the forest. Meat—vacuum-sealed, no less—had been lying in the forest? And three whole packages?

Incheol was about to head over to the spot she indicated when one of the other female survivors stopped him.

“There’s no need to go look, Mr. Incheol. We already searched the area thoroughly.”

“Yeah. We looked so hard we even stepped in shit. And it was huge too—”

“Ugh, can we please stop talking about the poop already? You don’t even know if it was yours.”

“I definitely didn’t shit there!”

Even the members who had been at each other’s throats seemed to be in a much better mood today thanks to the meat. If the meat hadn’t been there and they had returned empty-handed as well, the atmosphere would have been far worse.

Incheol let out a sigh of relief, feeling the tension ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠leave his chest.

“Should we use our big frying pan and grill some samgyeopsal?”

“Ooh, that sounds good.”

“Does anyone have coins left?”

“We have a knife, right? Mr. Incheol, could you cut it for us? I’m not very good with a blade.”

“Anyone here good at cutting meat?”

Both men and women were visibly excited as they gathered around the meat. Incheol calmly settled everyone down.

“We finally have some real meat. Wouldn’t it be a waste to just grill it? There doesn’t seem to be that much, either. How about we make a big pot of soup instead?”

“Soup? But grilled would be so much better…”

The members who had been looking forward to grilled pork belly looked visibly disappointed. Incheol continued to persuade them.

“If we grill it, a lot of the fat will render out and there won’t be much left. Plus, after not eating properly for so long, suddenly eating rich grilled meat might give us all stomachaches.”

“He’s right. Soup will stretch further and be more filling. We’ll actually be able to eat until we’re full.”

Another member backed him up. Only then did the disappointed faces begin to brighten. Whether grilled or in soup, what mattered most to them was being able to eat their fill.

“If Mr. Incheol says so, then let’s do that…”

“Alright, let’s get moving. We’ll need a big pot, right? Anyone have coins?”

“Hey, uncle over there, we all know you’re hiding coins.”

“What? H-hiding? Who’s hiding anything?”

The people who had been lethargic until now suddenly came alive the moment food appeared. Someone who had been secretly hoarding coins finally came forward, allowing them to purchase a large pot, vegetables for the soup, and other cooking tools.

“Inyoung, come with me for a second.”

After watching the others busily set the pot over the fire, Incheol took his sister and headed into the forest where she claimed to have found the meat.

“It was lying here?”

“Yeah…”

If food really had been dropped in the area, they needed to organize a proper search. There might be more somewhere nearby. As her brother scanned the empty surroundings, Inyoung fidgeted, clearly uncomfortable keeping her secret any longer.

Finally, she confessed.

“Oppa. Actually… I was told not to say anything, but… there was a soldier uncle here.”

“…A soldier?”

“Yeah. He was wearing a mask over his face so I was scared at first, but he turned out to be a really nice person!”

As if the secret had been weighing on her, Inyoung chattered away, explaining everything that had happened.

“So… he gave you the meat and left?”

“Yeah. He took it out of his backpack like this.”

“I see… Did you catch his name?”

“Oh, right. He said his name was Wilson.”

“…Wilson?”

“But his uniform had a different name on it. It said Kang Changjae. Hehe.”

“I see…”

Kang Changjae. Wilson. While Incheol felt grateful that a survivor had helped his sister, he also felt a chill run down his spine at the thought of what might have happened if the man had been dangerous.

*

I stood frozen, my spear aimed at the man’s chest. Even until the very last moment, my mind was a tangled mess.

No matter how cool I tried to act, I was still just an ordinary citizen at heart. That cool façade had been little more than a defense mechanism to protect my sanity—a way of telling myself I wouldn’t be hurt by something like this.

If I simply thrust my arm forward, the man would die. There were no witnesses. I wouldn’t receive any penalty. On the contrary, I would gain coins. If ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I only cared about efficiency, there was no reason not to do it.

“Grrrk…”

The man snored loudly. A faint smell of alcohol drifted from him. Had he really been drinking since the middle of the day? If he was drunk and standing in the warm sunlight of a clear forest, it made sense that he would feel sleepy. So sleepy that he wouldn’t even notice someone pointing a spear right at his face.

“……”

I lowered the spear.

I still didn’t know anything about this man. Whether he was a good person or a bad one. Whether he had been setting a trap or simply resting after dismantling one. Whether he had a young daughter back at his base waiting for her father to return—

Staining my hands could wait until after I learned more. It wouldn’t be too late.

I stepped away from the man and continued moving north, passing him by.

There was definitely another survivor group somewhere in this northern area. From where the man had been standing, eight new survivor markers had already appeared on my map. Excluding him, that meant eight others. Nine in total.

The gender ratio didn’t add up. Was one person standing guard somewhere else? Or were they already dead? Or perhaps this was only part of a much larger group, and the rest were out hunting—just like the previous group I had encountered?

With various questions swirling in my mind, I arrived near their base. What I saw was far more impressive than the previous group’s camp.

First, there was a fairly large wooden cabin. The quality was far too high to have been built by hand on a deserted island. The roof, door, and windows all looked surprisingly well-made. They must have used coins to construct it. It probably cost at least a thousand coins.

A short distance away stood a smaller hut made of mud, grass, and tarps. It was crude and shabby to call it a proper house, but on this island, it was still quite respectable. Just thinking about the previous group made that clear.

There were also a few crude storage sheds. Food and weapons were piled up somewhat haphazardly. Even if it was sloppy, they had established the basics of a livable environment. At least compared to the last group.

I enlarged the map to check the survivor locations again. Two were inside the small hut, while the remaining six were in the large wooden cabin.

“……”

Where should I go first?

I decided to head silently toward the smaller hut, where fewer people were gathered.