Chapter 21
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 021
Chapter Title: My Sister Kim Seon - [1]
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Stepping into the supermarket after such a long time, I couldn't help but sigh.
The store was called "Fresh Produce," but there wasn't a single vegetable or fruit in sight. All I saw were rice, instant noodles, canned goods, and other processed foods with long shelf lives.
I scanned the prices of the items.
Rice and instant noodles had doubled compared to before the Gates opened, but that was still on the cheaper side. Probably because the government was pulling out all the stops to keep those prices capped.
But looking at the prices of goods not managed by the government made my head spin. Rubber gloves for four thousand won, 30 rolls of toilet paper for sixty-eight thousand won...
Especially flour-based foods had skyrocketed. Korea relied almost entirely on imports for flour, and the sea crawling with Water Spirits had jacked up maritime shipping costs to insane levels.
On top of that, the countries exporting wheat were in bad shape. India had officially halted grain exports due to food shortages, Ukraine got invaded by Russia without any pretext, and Australia wasn't even human territory anymore.
Because of all that, rice was now the main ingredient in instant noodles these days, and flour foods were classified as luxury items with absurd prices.
Snacks were straight-up unobtainable. You could tell just by looking at that 120,000-won bag of MatX Mountain on display.
Whoa, that's ridiculously expensive.
The other snacks were around 66,000 won, so why was this one so much pricier? I couldn't help but ask out of sheer disbelief.
"Why's this one gone up so much?"
The shop owner, whom I was on friendly terms with, replied in a weary voice.
"Rumors say the factory's shutting down and it'll be discontinued, so the price shot up again. You see the news the other day? Some congressman got caught hoarding three boxes of MatX Mountain."
"A congressman hoarding? He got a side gig or something?"
"Nah, he wasn't planning to resell it at a markup later. He just loves the stuff and figured he might never get to eat it again, so he bought it all for himself."
As the shop owner muttered about how it was the first time he'd seen someone get flak just for buying snacks—not for some scandal or corruption—and how it really hit home that the country's gone to hell, I picked up a bag of MatX Mountain.
When I brought it to the counter, the owner looked shocked.
"Whoa, you really buying it? You must be loaded, huh?"
"I can afford a bag of snacks."
Soon enough, I left the store with the MatX Mountain in hand, whistling a little tune on the way home.
Being able to buy food that even congressmen hoard without a second thought? It really made me feel like I'd made it.
Of course, I didn't buy that 120,000-won bag for myself. It was for the prison visit.
This afternoon, I was going to see my little sister.
I wasn't exactly looking forward to it.
I looked at my sister through the bars.
She looked gaunt after not seeing her for so long. Seeing the formerly chubby girl like that didn't sit well with me.
But just as I was about to offer some words of comfort, she beat me to it, snapping irritably.
"Why'd you come, you fucking asshole?"
Her voice was just like Mom's, and I lost it.
"Heard the pig finally succeeded at her diet, so I came to check it out. Nice, the state's slimmed you down and threw you in jail—best thing that could've happened, right?"
I regretted the sarcasm the moment it left my mouth. What an idiot psycho I am.
Before more curses could fly from her lips, I hurriedly shoved the stuff I'd brought forward.
"Eat your feed first, you pig."
She probably wanted to swat away the food to protect her pride.
But this was the girl with an iron stomach. Her face twisted in conflict at the sight of the MatX Mountain bag and the plate of flounder sashimi (farmed indoors, and ridiculously expensive).
In a world where even normal people chowed down on dry instant noodles for meals, prison food was anyone's guess.
In the end, hunger won. She picked up her chopsticks, popped some sashimi in her mouth, grabbed a MatX Mountain snack, and her chopsticks started flying.
Halfway through, I asked,
"Good?"
Did she take it as mockery? She glared at me mid-bite and repeated herself.
"So why'd you come, you fucking asshole."
"Why're you bitching when you're scarfing it down?"
"You think I'd bow and say thanks? You know whose fault this is... Huh?"
"Whose fault is it you're in this mess?"
"You, you fucking asshole. You! If you hadn't beaten the shit out of me and ruined my personality...!"
Not the first time I'd heard that. She'd screamed something similar at me during the last visit.
Her claim was that I'd beaten her regularly at home, twisting her personality into something antisocial, which led to her getting bullied at school, and ultimately landing her here.
"That's 'cause you never learned jiu-jitsu. If you'd learned it, you could've fought back when I hit you and broken the arms and legs of those school punks bullying you—instead, you just stuffed your face and ended up like this."
She glared at me.
"You fucking asshole..."
"You shouldn't have done shit to deserve a beating in the first place."
"What'd I even do?!"
"I still haven't forgiven you for selling every book in my shelf to the used bookstore while I was on that school trip and buying shoes with the money. Selling my textbooks too—what the hell was that? And Mom, that bitch, took your side saying once you're the big brother, just think of it as buying your sister a gift, no need to get mad."
"That was Mom's doing! The night before, you sided with Dad during their fight, so she was pissed at you. While I was at school, she sold all the books and told me to say it was me if anyone asked, promising half the money."
"Figured as much. That fucking bitch—I should've beaten her more before she became Monster chow."
"You were wrong for siding with Dad in the first place! He barely gave us living expenses and just went hiking—why take that fucker's side?"
"If I didn't side with Dad during their fights, the whole family would've ganged up on him, and when it was just me and that fucker alone, he definitely would've taken it out on me."
"What'd Dad do to you?"
"You know what that bastard did one time I didn't side with him and just stayed quiet? I was heating up some instant ramen soup by myself, and suddenly he flips the table, yelling why I'm not offering him any. Ever had boiling soup spill on your thigh and burn you? The scar stayed until I got Super Regeneration. I screamed in pain, and that prick pretended to be pissed and stormed out."
Even now, thinking back fills me with rage. Why'd both those Monsters have to become chow? If their ashes were left, I'd flush them down the toilet—and it's a shame I can't.
"Was that Dad or me? Why're you mad at me?"
"Then keep talking about what you did. You never even gave me money to buy new textbooks, so I was studying online for exams, and you ran to Mom whining that big bro won't get off the computer—remember that? I'd had it on for less than ten minutes, but Mom ordered me to yield it anyway."
"Quit bringing that up! You used it as an excuse to ban me from the computer more than five minutes a day later..."
I was about to counter with another anecdote but stopped. What the hell am I doing visiting just to fight?
I wasn't originally this hot-tempered psycho. It started after middle school year three. Damn it.
I took a deep breath and forced a calm voice.
"Let's drop it. What's the point of rehashing how shitty we were to each other? We'd just end up pissed... Listen while you eat. Finish eating."
She chewed a MatX Mountain snack, still glaring. I kept going.
"I can't say I'm reflecting on how shitty I was to you. You're probably not either, right?"
She looked like she was about to say something. Not wanting another fight, I cut in quickly.
"Still, if time turned back... I wouldn't do it like before."
"What?"
"If I could go back, I'd only beat Mom and Dad. Just those fuckers... I wouldn't hit you, just beat those idiots."
She seemed to get the gist. Her glare softened as she dropped her head and picked up another piece of sashimi.
"Felt bad when you got caught. That's why I protested to get you out, right?"
Finally, she spoke.
"And yet you only visited once."
"Got kicked out of UFC and my pride was shot. Didn't have the guts to hear shit from you in my miserable state."
"What's different now?"
"Yeah. Big bro's making money now."
I started telling her about my Hunter activities lately, how the signing bonus alone was over 50 billion... I shared my recent situation without sounding too boastful.
"So when you get out, I'll take care of you. Let's live together. I'll cover the money..."
"I wanna live alone."
"Figured you'd say that, so I looked into it—turns out it's tough. You know Gates open extra around Ice awakeners? Monsters inside Gates can see souls from the outside world, and Awakeners shine super bright like beacons. And they all know Ice Awakeners are weak..."
In RPG terms, more EXP from killing Awakeners than normals. A weak Ice Awakener was like a bonus EXP jackpot.
No need to explain that Monsters drool and open Gates when they spot an Ice Awakener soul pattern.
"I know. Every time a Gate opens near the prison, the girls in my cell bitch it's my fault."
Prison life wasn't easy either. The cellmates bullied her too. Why didn't this idiot learn jiu-jitsu and spare herself?
"Anyway, seems hard for Ice Awakeners to live alone. Buying a house is tough, and even if you do, neighbors won't leave you be."
Her voice sank as she mumbled,
"Then living with you is fine?"
"Probably... They say it's okay with a Physical Enhancer. Monsters avoid opening Gates near them 'cause they're no pushovers. Ice and Physical together balance it out. Neighbors are scared of the Physical Enhancer, so they don't complain..."
She worked her lips, like she wanted to say something, then clammed up.
I kept talking.
"So let's live together when you get out. I haven't bought a house yet, but I have the money. Got money for your car too. Get your license, and I'll buy you a Porsche."
"Porsche?"
"Yeah, Porsche. Only fancy cars I know are Benz and Porsche, so that's what I'll get. If you know better ones, I'll buy those. So..."
My vision blurred. I blinked and continued.
"Let's start over. We're each other's only family. No need to do anything special—just live together, yeah?"
I told her she wouldn't have to cook or do dishes after getting out, that I'd hire a housekeeper. That I had the money and ability, she just needed to get released—no other worries.
Then I wiped my eyes. Something trailed down her cheek too.
After the visit, I left the prison alone.
Back when I was in middle school, Mom and Dad fought constantly.
If they'd just fought between themselves, it would've been better. But they didn't. Whenever they fought, they'd each drag a kid to their side to prove who was right, turning it into brawls.
My sister always took Mom's side, and Dad forced me, the fellow guy, to be his. When I had no choice but to side with him, Mom glared daggers. I was sick of it all.
Then, in my third year of middle school, one night I was deep asleep, forcibly woken at dawn, and dragged into another fight—I finally snapped.
Dad was yelling, "You think I'm right, or that fucking bitch ignoring the head of the house?" forcing me to pick. I kicked him in the gut.
One kick from my 190cm-plus frame left him gasping. I kept stomping even after he fell.
Mom, standing there wide-eyed, got no mercy. She'd tormented me too. I beat her while she froze in shock, not even calling the cops.
Then peace came to the house. They feared me now. No more fights at home; they behaved. That's when I learned the fist outranks the law.
But misfortune hit my sister.
Before, when we fought, Mom always backed her, so despite the strength gap, we were evenly matched.
Once I stopped watching Mom's mood, sis couldn't keep up.
Our power difference became our hierarchy.
Looking back, she was just an elementary kid forcibly dragged into the fights. But as a middle schooler, I had no empathy for that.
To me, she wasn't a fellow domestic violence victim—she was a spineless woman riding outsiders' coattails.
I beat her for revenge and stress relief, and without Mom's protection, she took it one-sidedly. Until I ended up in juvie.
I can't change any of that, even with future sight.
But from now on? Maybe.
If I treat her right from here, share what I have without holding back, maybe our twisted sibling bond can straighten out?
I think so.
On the way home, to shake off the gloom, I opened HuntWeb.