Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: A Family Without Its Pillar
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I have no intention of becoming trash...
Of course, to those who didn't treat me like a human, I plan to be nothing short of a devil.
But that doesn't mean I'm going to commit atrocities like forcing myself on strangers or looting.
If I were that kind of person, I wouldn't have saved Han Mo-ah back at the dorm in the first place.
"I'm sorry. With things being like this, I don't have much to offer you..."
"No, I don't expect anything at all. Please don't give me anything."
The woman who had let me into her home guided me to the table in the living room.
'Still, letting a stranger into the house right from the start...'
I glanced at the little girl peeking out from the doorway near the living room, watching me.
She looked like an elementary school kid, maybe early years.
'She has a young daughter at home, yet she lets in a stranger...'
There weren't many possibilities I could think of.
Sure, my first impression and the special food I gave her probably helped build some trust.
But two options came to mind.
—Either she's so naive she'd let a strange man into her house.
—Or she's desperate enough to rely on even a stranger.
And conveniently, that stranger's demeanor is one of "helping others."
She was probably desperate enough to take a gamble.
"After receiving help like this, it just doesn't feel right to let you go without anything. Please, at least have a meal with us."
The woman smiled kindly as she unpacked some of the food from the bag and laid it out on the dining table.
She was smiling, but she didn't look all that well.
It wasn't hunger from lack of food.
Just exhaustion etched deeply into her face.
Her daughter watching from afar seemed full of energy, so it didn't seem like a resource shortage.
"Then I'll gladly join you."
I needed information first, so I agreed to eat together.
*Clink, clink.*
Even in this zombie-apocalypse world, she pulled out utensils for her guest who'd brought food and carefully served it all in front of me.
'Doesn't she plan to save any food?'
But even for treating a guest, the amount she put out was quite generous.
Of course, compared to pre-pandemic days, it was a modest meal.
Still, considering how vital food was, it was a lot.
"Are you, Seo-ho, out looking for other survivors?"
We started with simple introductions over the meal.
Names, ages, what we did before the zombie outbreak.
The young mother in front of me was named Baek Min-ah.
She looked young, and she was—only twenty-seven.
"Yeah, once I had some extra food, I figured I should help others."
"...You're a really righteous person."
At my words about helping people, Baek Min-ah gave a relieved smile.
She'd probably held onto a sliver of doubt about me being dangerous.
But now she seemed convinced I was a good person.
It was actually my first time helping someone, but I didn't feel any guilt about it.
"So, Min-ah, you've been holding out here alone with your daughter this whole time?"
After we'd learned a bit about each other, I cautiously asked about the mother and daughter.
What I needed was information.
Based on that, I'd decide what to do with the woman in front of me.
"...Actually."
Maybe because we'd gotten to know each other over the meal and her trust in me had risen quite a bit.
Baek Min-ah stroked her daughter's head beside her and told me her situation.
"We were surviving together—me, this child, and her dad. ...Her dad left a week ago to scavenge for food."
Baek Min-ah referred to Yoon Hyun-seo's father not as "husband," but as "this child's dad."
"...If it's not too rude, are you and Hyun-seo...?"
"Oh, yeah... Actually, I'm not Hyun-seo's real mom. ...But I've been raising her like my own since she was little, so now she's family just the same."
She wasn't related to Yoon Hyun-seo by blood.
She'd known the child's father, Yoon Kang-hyun, since they were kids.
After his wife passed, she'd simply stepped in to fill that void.
"So eventually, Hyun-seo started calling me mom, and at some point, I just decided to take on the role."
Yoon Hyun-seo, having finished her meal, stared blankly at me while clutching tightly to Baek Min-ah's hem.
'Yeah, she was way too young for sure.'
Twenty-seven years old.
These days, that's young even for marriage, let alone having an eight-year-old daughter—unless she'd gotten knocked up as a minor, which wouldn't make sense.
I'd considered that possibility.
But not the biological mom...
'Still, probably not a virgin...?'
A twenty-seven-year-old woman.
For your average Korean woman, that's well past the age for first experiences.
And she wasn't unattractive by any means.
If I looked like her, I'd have made decent money as a streamer or YouTuber, or at least an influencer on SNS, even if not a full celeb.
Plus, even if not officially married, if she'd taken on the mom role, she must have had feelings for the dad.
Which means they'd probably had sex.
"You're amazing. I don't think I could've made that choice."
"Embarrassing as it is, I've had a crush on her dad since we were kids."
Baek Min-ah gazed at Yoon Hyun-seo with affection, speaking nostalgically.
"So when my sister passed and they were struggling, I couldn't just leave them."
"You never got married? If you loved him, didn't you at least think about having a kid like Hyun-seo?"
It might be a rude question, but whatever, no big deal.
I was their benefactor now.
She wouldn't mind a little rudeness.
What mattered was getting information.
"Well... there were circumstances... We haven't registered the marriage yet."
"Yet" probably wasn't happening in this world anymore.
'Anyway, no marriage, and no planned kids...'
I'd learn more about those circumstances later, but a thought crossed my mind.
A guy she'd crushed on since childhood.
And she'd even taken on raising his daughter, who wasn't hers.
Maybe she'd never given her heart to another man.
'...Could she still be a virgin?'
I smirked faintly at the slim possibility.
"Um... Seo-ho. It's really hard for me to ask this of the person who helped us."
Then Baek Min-ah spoke to me cautiously after we finished eating.
She looked truly apologetic as she straightened her posture and pleaded earnestly.
"C-Could I ask you for just one favor?"
As expected, she had something she wanted from me.
'Yeah, the meal portions were too big.'
No matter how kind, if the generosity was this much, there was a motive.
Letting a stranger into the house and serving a meal like this.
Plus a husband out scavenging for food.
The puzzle pieces were falling into place.
"If you're looking for survivors... could you maybe look for Hyun-seo's dad too?"
Baek Min-ah pleaded with exhausted eyes.
"H-He must be alive out there somewhere, hiding! He was a firefighter! So please...!"
She grabbed both my hands desperately with hers.
Her shadowed face had teary eyes sparkling.
The reason for her haggard look was worry and anxiety over Yoon Hyun-seo's dad, Yoon Kang-hyun.
The man she'd loved her whole life.
And now, in this dire moment not knowing if he was dead or alive, she had his stepdaughter to care for.
'Such timing for me to show up.'
Even I thought I was like a ray of hope from the heavens.
No wonder she'd let me in without fear.
She wanted to find the man she loved, somehow.
"Yeah, don't worry."
I gently covered her hands gripping mine with my other hand.
And with the kindest smile I could muster, I reassured her.
"That's exactly why I'm out and about. I'll find your kid's dad for you."
At my response, the anxious Baek Min-ah broke into a bright smile.
"Really... Thank you so much. I have nothing to offer... This favor, I'll repay somehow..."
She clutched my hand tight, bowed her head, and shed tears.
Her daughter Yoon Hyun-seo, seeing her mom like that, pouted on the verge of tears and clung to her hem.
'What do you mean you have nothing to give.'
I looked down at her and grinned.
Then.
*Ding.*
'...A message?'
The familiar status window alert sounded.
And in front of me appeared a [Side Quest] window.
[Side Quest – A Family Without Its Pillar
You've made plans to build a peaceful yet passionate relationship with a newly met survivor.
For that, you need affinity with survivor 'Baek Min-ah.'
Raise your affinity with her through various means.
'Baek Min-ah' Affinity: 11%]
'This is perfect.'
I was planning to max out her affinity anyway.
And now a side quest on top.
Based on past results, the rewards probably included shop points.
Get Baek Min-ah and the quest rewards too.
'And if she's a virgin here...'
I eyed the cleavage subtly revealed as Baek Min-ah bowed her head to me.
A woman in a dress from this high-end new apartment.
'Put her in a micro-mini, and she'd look killer.'
I licked my lips, already imagining what to dress her in and make her do.
"Then I'll swing by again soon while looking for Kang-hyuk too. You always need food, right?"
"I-Is that really okay?"
"Yeah, wandering around isn't hard for me anyway, and I've got plenty of food."
"...For you to go that far... It's such a relief there's someone like you in this world."
Baek Min-ah wept with joy, having found a lifeline like me in her fading hope.
Of course, it was all for affinity.
After that, I said a quick goodbye and left the apartment.
I found a spot where I wouldn't be too visible.
And gathered all the zombies around there.
"Attention all! Find this man in the photo. Bring him here to the library entrance if you do."
The zombies listened to my voice as if they had intelligence.
They carefully checked the photo I'd handed them, one by one from the front.
'They just look like office workers now.'
My current spot was the national library near Baek Min-ah's apartment.
I stood on the front steps, looking down at a horde of zombies.
They followed my orders, inspecting the photo meticulously one at a time.
With so many zombies doing it, they looked like weary salarymen on overtime.
"One more time: if he's alive, don't kill him. Even if dead, bring the body here. Dismissed! Find him quick!"
At my command's end, the zombies silently dispersed in all directions without a word.
The last one handed the photo back to me after checking.
'Wonder how many days the orders will last.'
This was a test of sorts.
How far could these zombies carry out my commands?
Could they remember a human face?
And follow orders over a long time?
Lots of gains from this quest.
'The kid's dad probably isn't alive anyway.'
Baek Min-ah held onto hope, but it had been a week.
If he hadn't returned to his wife and kid after that long, there was only one answer.
'Just a matter of time then.'
I headed back to the department store, happily plotting how I'd claim Baek Min-ah.
。 。 。
A few days had passed since Lee Seo-ho took Ryu Da-hee from the dorm.
Before long, a week came—the time when he said he'd return.
As that time approached.
Oh Na-yeon huddled in her dorm room, clutching her head in despair.
On the pillow of the bed where she sat were countless pregnancy tests, all showing single lines.
"This can't be... This can't be..."
Oh Na-yeon buried herself under the blanket and stared blankly at the test in her hand, the one she'd just checked.
It too showed a single line.
She wasn't pregnant.
"He came so much... Not a drop wasted, all inside me... Until my belly swelled..."
Oh Na-yeon muttered to herself, hugging her knees in disbelief.
No matter how she thought about it, something was off.
Lee Seo-ho had dumped his load straight into her womb without hesitation.
And it was right around ovulation, when conception chances were highest for women.
"All of it... not a drop spilled, all inside me."
That's why she kept muttering, unable to accept the reality.
For a split second, she wondered if Lee Seo-ho had azoospermia.
But no, that couldn't be it.
Whether the problem was with her or him didn't matter.
What mattered was if Oh Na-yeon was pregnant.
And what happened if she wasn't.
"...Seo-ho oppa..."
Oh Na-yeon hugged her trembling body tight and whispered the name of the man she longed for.
Tears flowed from the terror of being abandoned by him, and she stayed up all night.