Chapter 17. Where to Go
Chapter 17. Where to Go
Staring at the horizon all day was also a chore.
"So this is why people take planes," I thought, savoring a rare moment of rest.
Since we had plenty of time, Han-byeol and I put our heads together and finished a detailed analysis of my status window and skills.
First, we decided to call the Blue Lightning discharge I used to spam intuitively and mindlessly 'Lightning Bolt'.
Besides that, we actively adopted fantasy terms familiar to us: the technique where it splits from my fingertips to strike multiple enemies simultaneously became 'Chain Lightning', and the high-firepower, single-target technique where I compress current into the shape of a spear became 'Lightning Spear'.
It turned out Han-byeol was a manga nerd, and for the first time, she showed me her eyes sparkling like a seventeen-year-old girl.
Han-byeol looked so cute chattering away as she named my new skills that I couldn't bring myself to show that I was cringing, so I just silently nodded along.
And the body-current transformation technique I used on the fly during my death match with Dogo.
Han-byeol named it 'Advent of the Thunder God' with a feigned solemn expression.
I wondered why this one wasn't in English, but I couldn't bring myself to ask.
As I've said before, it's not like I'm oblivious.
Those trivial and childish conversations themselves were slowly, bit by bit, breathing human warmth into my withered heart.
Before I knew it, the day was growing dark again.
Just then, I heard a commotion outside and went to check it out.
A faint, massive black silhouette began to rise above the horizon line in the distance, colored by the sunset.
It was the beautiful island, Jeju-do.
The massive ship we were on grazed past Jeju-do and headed north.
Jeju-do, visible over the distant horizon, was no longer the beautiful landscape of the 'Island of Three Abundances' (Samdado) of the past; instead, it cast only a desolate silhouette with black smoke rising here and there.
I couldn't see the detailed situation inland, but it was obvious that even that massive island hadn't been able to escape the tsunami of destruction.
We would be able to arrive at Incheon Port by tomorrow morning.
Was it because we had passed Jeju-do? The thread of my heart, which had been pulled taut ever since leaving Okinawa, began to loosen in a strange way.
Before long, the vast coastline of the Korean Peninsula began to appear to the right of the ship.
The Korean tourists who had come out to the deck shed silent tears as they looked at the land of their homeland visible right beside them.
It must have been a complex mix of tears—relief at finally having returned alive, and fear for the safety of the families left behind on that devastated land.
I couldn't guarantee how much of the peaceful homeland they remembered would still remain, but I didn't bother to pour cold water on their hopes.
The massive passenger ship heavily docked at the Incheon Port pier.
Once the ropes were tied securely and the gangway was lowered, I shouldered two large bags filled with the canned goods I had packed in advance and went down the deck with Han-byeol.
The sensation of the solid concrete ground against my feet felt strangely alien.
The office worker Seo Ji-han, who just a short while ago wore a regular assistant manager's name tag and prioritized work-life balance, no longer existed.
The one who set foot on the returned homeland was the 'Blue Lightning Slaughterer' who had dyed half of a foreign island in blood and reigned supreme.
As soon as the tourists who came with us got off at the pier, they offered their thanks multiple times and then scattered in all directions to find their respective connections.
Whether salvation or deeper despair awaited them at the end of their journey, or if they would even be able to finish their journey at all—only God would know.
I looked back at the Japanese captain, Yota, and the navigator who had been waiting on the deck, pale as a sheet.
They were trembling like death row inmates waiting for the judgment of the grim reaper who would take their lives.
"You may go. I promised."
At my cold permission, the two men's pupils dilated in disbelief.
"A-are you really letting us go alive?"
"Take care of the ship yourselves. Whether you return to Japan or go to another port, that's your freedom."
I turned my back without a lingering attachment, as if I had no more business with them.
From behind, I heard the urgent shouts of the crew hastily raising the anchor and preparing to set sail.
To think that sparing someone's life was such a trivial thing.
Suddenly, memories of the days in Okinawa when I was crazed with slaughter flashed by, and I felt bitter for no reason.
And the scenery of Incheon I finally faced was...
Literally a hellscape of chaos and agony.
Decaying corpses were scattered messily all over the pier, and the remnants of civilization I encountered as soon as I left the port were horribly charred, revealing only skeletal frames like skulls.
Overturned vehicles filled the roads, and broken glass shards flashed sharply, reflecting the rays of the setting ash-colored sun.
'Would it be impossible to find a vehicle and get to Seoul...?'
From somewhere, a monstrous cry like that of a beast was heard.
And a smell faintly layered beneath it.
It was the smell of something rotting.
The smell I had grown sick of in Okinawa.
The kind you can't forget once you've smelled it.
"It's... the same here as in Japan."
Han-byeol muttered quietly, lightly clutching my sleeve.
It seemed she had vaguely hoped that some different miracle would be waiting for us when we returned to our homeland.
I, too, could painfully understand the faint disappointment laced in the child's voice.
"...It will be the same everywhere. Because it's a world where civilization has vanished."
The only difference was that this was my country.
Signs in Hangul. Readable street signs. Familiar brand names.
That made this ruin feel even more surreal.
It was a strange feeling to see a familiar landscape completely turned upside down.
It was like looking at the corpse of someone I knew.
It was exactly as I had worried about on the ship. No, it was even worse.
There were traces of looting everywhere on the streets.
Convenience stores and marts had long been emptied, leaving only their frames.
The shutters were all ripped off, and the display shelves were overturned.
I could see that hunger and desire had swept through this city once.
Traces of people turning everything upside down in search of food.
My guess hadn't been wrong.
I walked down the street.
There were traces of people having lived here and there.
And traces of them having died, too.
I didn't bother to look at them for long.
Because looking wouldn't change anything.
I wanted to cover Han-byeol's eyes too, but she was already used to things like this.
That made my heart ache even more.
That a seventeen-year-old had become desensitized to such sights.
Monsters were common in Incheon, too.
As we were coming out of an alley, a few mutated beasts blocked our path.
Three monsters that had mutated to the size of calves.
They, which must have originally been humans' affectionate pet dogs, glared at us with bloodshot eyes, drooling.
Han-byeol reflexively hid behind my back.
I lightly flicked my right-hand fingers.
Pajijik— Kwa-gwa-gwang!
"Chain Lightning."
When I braved the embarrassment and said the skill name Han-byeol had given me, a proud smile spread across her face.
It was the kind of smile you'd see if you were watching a comedy show.
The bright blue lightning bolt that shot out from my fingertips split into exactly three branches in mid-air and pierced the tops of their heads.
The situation was resolved without a single scream.
In front of 'Chain Lightning' cast with Tier 3 Intelligence, these kinds of small fries didn't even count as obstacles.
"Pfft, oppa. I didn't think you'd actually call out that childish name."
"...Be quiet."
Why is the embarrassment always my share?
To hide the fact that the tips of my ears were burning slightly, I scolded her in a feigned stern voice.
"Still, since oppa said it like that, you look like a real protagonist in a novel, and it's cool. Please do it often from now on!"
"Let's go. We have a long way to go."
I tried to ignore her because I felt like my embarrassment would double if I looked at Han-byeol's face.
Between the shadows of the crumbled buildings in the distance, I saw a group of survivors holding crude iron pipes and kitchen knives glancing at us.
Eyes like hyenas trying to hunt prey.
They were no different from the mutated beasts I had just seen.
Perhaps they were even more vicious than the beasts.
Without stopping my stride, I lightly flicked blue sparks between my fingers.
Jijik— Pajijik—
Having witnessed those trivial fragments of current, the hyenas stiffened their faces and soon secretly hid deep inside the alley.
It seemed they had adapted very quickly, at least in terms of the survival instinct to distinguish between the strong and the weak.
"...Those people just now, were they trying to attack us?"
"If we had been weak, they definitely would have."
I said, readjusting the two bags filled with canned goods.
Han-byeol stuck close to my side.
I didn't bother to push her away.
In these dangerous streets, this much was natural. I even wanted to tell her not to fall behind.
For now, we had to go to Seoul.
To be precise, Sindorim.
The neighborhood I lived in. If Yu-hyeon also survived, he would be around there.
It wasn't that far from Incheon.
An hour's distance back when cars could drive.
It was doable in a day even on foot.
The road ahead was obviously going to be rough.
Because monsters and people would be lurking everywhere.
The hungry ones would have become more vicious, and those who had become vicious would be eyeing us constantly.
It would be a bit tiring, but that couldn't stop me.
There would be nothing on these streets that could stop me, someone over level 100.
"Han-byeol, do you have a place you need to go?"
"Yes. There is a place I must go."
...I hadn't heard about that.
Well, even if there's no one there, you'd still have to go home, I thought, and just as I was about to ask where it was.
"Sindorim."
"...Sindorim?"
"Yes, oppa's house. And the new nest where I'll be trespassing and living together from now on!"
I stared down at Han-byeol, dumbfounded.
She looked up at me with pitiful, lethal eyes like the Puss in Boots from an animation and whispered.
"Why? Can't I? You kidnapped this frail healer who saved the nation all the way across the Pacific, and now you're going to dump me on the cold street?"
Han-byeol looked at me with an expression like the cat from the animation with the green monster.
Where did she even learn to talk like that?
It wasn't very hard to read the fragile anxiety of 'maybe I'll be abandoned' in her joking complaints.
I roughly swept back her messy hair and let out a snort of laughter.
"Let's go, to my house."
"Yes!"
Han-byeol smiled as if blooming wide and walked with long strides to match my pace.
Actually, all the way back to my homeland, there was fear in my heart.
If I arrived in Seoul and Yu-hyeon and everyone I knew were dead and no one was left, what would I have to live for?
The fear that if that happened, I might truly become a monster and fall into depravity.
But at least I had this frail yet sturdy child by my side.
Someone to protect.
And someone who protects me.
We began to walk east, crossing the ruined city.
Two shadows side by side under the ash-colored sky.
Stepping on the familiar yet strange land of my hometown. The sun was passing its zenith.