The Larger Picture
Morning
The brothers rose early again today.
*Whoosh, whoosh, stretch, stretch.*
Kang Dohun’s body warmed up with unusually vigorous energy.
“You’ve got a lot of confidence today.”
“Hyung, I really feel like I’ve gotten stronger.”
It was more than just a feeling.
Kang Dohun hadn’t earned achievements in the faction ranking, but the special rewards from the lottery had been enormous.
“Chosen by the God of Combat.”
That was likely the top prize among the special lottery items.
The two brothers loosened up lightly and faced each other.
“Starting with hand-to-hand?”
“Yeah. Let’s try.”
So the brothers began their bare-handed sparring.
*Thud! Thud! Thwack!*
Their hands and feet collided, and gradually…
“Ah, I’m losing.”
Kang Dohyun felt he was slipping a little. And he knew his brother was pushing him.
Still, with his long battle experience, he had some tricks up his sleeve and held a slight edge.
*If Dohun gained just a bit more experience.*
In a one-on-one close-quarters fight, Kang Dohyun concluded he wouldn’t win against his brother.
After the spar ended.
“It still won’t work against you, hyung. But hyung, I’ve really become strong, right?”
“Hah, it’s not just gotten strong. There won’t be anyone in Korea who can beat you one-on-one. Well, aside from me, of course.”
Kang Dohyun was certain.
If his brother kept growing like this, no one in Korea would beat him one-on-one.
No, even if the whole world expanded, in a straight one-on-one fight, Kang Dohun was strong enough to be among the top five fingers.
Watching his brother beam with excitement, Kang Dohyun’s mind felt strange.
*I really don’t like losing to my brother.*
With his versatility and long-range combat combined, Kang Dohyun was clearly superior, but in close combat his brother was pulling ahead—only a matter of time.
*Fine. I’ll take it.*
Kang Dohyun decided to look on the bright side.
After morning sparring, in the afternoon he visited Lee Dongwoo.
“You, how much harvest from farming and how many fish from fishing have you caught?”
“Uh, quite a bit?”
“How much exactly?”
“Come here.”
Dongwoo led Kang Dohyun to the bunker beneath the house. Inside, the massive refrigerator was…
“Wow, a lot.”
There were plenty of spinach and lettuce, but the freezer was packed with a variety of frozen fish.
“Put all this up for sale in the shop.”
“What prices should I set?”
“A bundle of spinach and lettuce around three zombie coins. Fish, three zombie coins per fish.”
When registering items for sale, there were registration fees and sales fees, so the basic coin unit was fixed around ten.
But thanks to Dongwoo’s skill, both the registration and sales fees were waived entirely.
So, following Dohyun’s instructions, Dongwoo began listing the goods one by one.
“Will they sell well?”
“Shouldn’t. Or rather, no one will be able to buy them?”
The shop had opened and sold some food, but most of it had been grain like rice, flour, and corn.
Protein from fish and fresh vegetables naturally had higher value.
“Then… can’t I sell them for more?”
“You, let’s be good. From our group, at least one of us being the bad guy is enough.”
Dongwoo didn’t fully understand the meaning of what Kang Dohyun said, but he decided to follow anyway.
While Dongwoo registered the items in the shop, Kang Dohyun checked the other things in the bunker.
*He’s stockpiled a huge amount of everything.*
From all kinds of daily necessities to food and medical supplies, the bunker held a massive variety.
*Everything loses value over time, but…*
Kang Dohyun headed for the medicine storage.
*Medicine is one of the most expensive things right now.*
In the sudden apocalypse, weak people or children often got sick even if they survived.
To treat them, a doctor was important, but the medicine itself was even more so.
Hospitals and pharmacies were mostly in crowded areas, so they were hard to come by later.
Eventually the weak would die and only the strong would survive. And the strong could obtain medicine no matter what, if they needed it. So right now was the perfect time for medicine’s value to be highest.
Kang Dohyun began listing the medicine in the shop, pricing a small set at fifty zombie coins each.
*Even at this price, desperate people will buy.*
After adding some of the stored medicine to the shop, a hundred zombie coins vanished as fees.
*With just these, no zombie coin worries for the next quarter.*
He finished organizing part of the items.
Time flew by. After training and cleanup, evening had arrived.
The men gathered back at the house.
“I’ve prepared dinner.”
Kim Harin showed a much more proactive attitude toward helping Kang Dohyun than before. She had prepared the meal for him.
The dinner menu was stir-fried pork belly, grilled fish, and soybean stew.
“It smells delicious!”
“It looks tasty!”
“Let’s eat quickly.”
The three men sat straight at the table, and Kang Dohyun stuffed food into his mouth.
“Wow!”
The food tasted better than he expected.
“You’re a great cook.”
“Yes, I only know how to cook properly.”
The three men ate heartily, satisfied with her skills. Suddenly—
*Buff effect from special food consumption: Strength increased for 6 hours.*
“Eh?”
Kang Dohyun and the men checked the message and jumped. Seeing their reaction, Kim Harin smiled satisfiedly.
“I have a skill that makes buff food for you.”
“Wow.”
For Kang Dohyun, this gave Kim Harin an unexpected additional use.
After dinner, the conversation naturally turned to drinking.
“Let’s drink some booze together for once.”
“Sounds good.”
“I’ll pour one too!”
“Harin-ssi, you should join us too.”
Since the apocalypse began, drinking had become rare. Even on the uninhabited island, everyone had refrained from drinking.
Lee Dongwoo brought up beer and soju from the underground bunker, and the snack was the stir-fried pork belly Kim Harin had made.
“Here, let’s drink!”
“To the death!”
Everyone clinked glasses and the drinking party officially began.
The atmosphere was very relaxed.
Everyone poured and ate their own amounts, of course, but the important thing was the conversation among the people.
The men had plenty to talk about, while Kim Harin had little to say, so she focused on listening.
After some light, fun chatting, Kang Dohun asked his brother seriously.
“Hyung? But, what’s your goal in the apocalypse?”
Instead of an abstract answer, Kang Dohyun replied.
“I just want to be happy. Not just me, but you and Dongwoo too. And now Harin-ssi as well.”
If we’re happy, that’s the answer. But to be happy…
“You have to become strong to be happy. In the apocalypse era… it’s not strange to have everything taken away just because you’re weak.”
“How strong do I need to be to be happy?”
His brother’s follow-up question gave him his own standard.
“At least become the strongest in one region.”
To becoming the strongest in one region, the others looked confused.
As a regressor, Kang Dohyun of course knew Korea’s future and the world’s future.
North Korea would not last two years and would collapse. China would fall soon after as well.
During that time, North Korea became China’s absurdly huge zombie buffer zone, while Korea remained an island nation.
That part was no problem. The bigger headache was Japan.
Japan was one of the countries that handled the apocalypse well. After three years, they reclaimed most of their land.
They attempted to advance onto the Korean Peninsula. In some areas, Japan’s effective control turned Korea into their parasitic existence.
In this chaotic situation, the Korean government kept trying to retake Seoul but ultimately failed and had to declare they had given up the capital.
While the government floundered, stronger people and forces in each region declared themselves the local lords.
The problem was that the government lacked the power to control them.
In the end, after three years of the apocalypse, the Korean government recognized the regional lords as the owners of their territories and reconstituted itself as the United States of Korea.
At that time, becoming the lord of one region was Kang Dohyun’s first goal.
“I’ll travel around the country quickly, get strong fast, and by the third year seize control of one region. That’s the first goal.”
Kang Dohun and Lee Dongwoo listened to the three-year plan and nodded, though the story was long.
“Since it’s from hyung, I’ll believe and follow.”
“Yeah, if it’s from Dohyun hyung, I believe it. Especially since hyung is a regressor.”
When Dongwoo casually mentioned the word “regressor,” Kang Dohyun frowned.
“Why? Ah…”
Only then did Dongwoo look at Kim Harin. She, of course, had no idea Kang Dohyun was a regressor, so she stared at him in surprise.
The drinking party ended with Dongwoo’s half-hearted protest against his brother.
Kim Harin cleared the drinking table herself and thought.
*A regressor?*
That word only existed in novels. But if Kang Dohyun really was a regressor…
*I’m glad I accepted him back then without resisting.*
She had to imagine the future with him.
That night
Kang Dohyun and Kim Harin had their usual hot sex.
“Hah… hah…”
After Kang Dohyun finished and pulled out, Kim Harin breathed heavily.
“Definitely good. Now sex with you is fun.”
“Hah… really? Hah…”
As Kim Harin became more proactive, their sex grew hotter, more enjoyable, and more pleasurable.
Confirming she had satisfied him, she nestled in his arms and asked.
“You said you’ve regressed, right?”
“Hmm… that’s a secret. Don’t tell anyone.”
“Got it. But, did you really regress?”
“Yes. Don’t you believe me?”
“No. If it’s you, I could believe it.”
It was strange how strong he was, but considering he had snagged a special item during the faction ranking and knew the lottery numbers… of course.
Plus, he knew her hidden trait ‘Internal Assistance’ that few people knew. That was possible only because he was a regressor.
“But, you had to kidnap me so forcefully, right?”
“I didn’t have time to waste.”
“Still… slaughtering the people in the group I was with was too much.”
Kang Dohyun laughed in disbelief.
“That was too much?”
“Yeah.”
“No. That was helping you and your brother.”
And Kang Dohyun told her the truth.
Hearing from Kang Dohyun about her future and her brother’s future if he hadn’t intervened, Kim Harin was shocked.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Because of her trait, she had been kidnapped, her limbs cut off, and become a warlord’s slave. Her brother tried to avenge her and died.
All those starting points had come from the friends around her brother.
“Really?”
Since Kim Harin couldn’t believe it, she asked again.
“Do I have any reason to lie to Harin-ssi?”
No.
For a short time, he had clearly cared for her and wasn’t the type to do pointless things.
“Then you’re my benefactor.”
“Benefactor? That’s not right. I just kidnapped you because I needed you.”
Still, he was the one who saved her from the worst possible future.
“This time I really have to serve you wholeheartedly.”
“Yeah? Can’t wait.”
“Yes, I’ll study while looking at the laptop in your room during the day.”
She threw herself at him even more actively, and the room stayed noisy until dawn.