Chapter 13
Chapter 13
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Protector and Protected
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Ho-jun, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Mom. It's just a little scrape."
"But you're bleeding...!"
"I put some ointment on it, so it'll be okay. The bleeding's already stopped."
Yoon Ho-chan gazed out the window as he listened to his family's voices.
His parents kept talking to his injured brother out of concern.
Their overly devoted attention made his eyes narrow.
'It's not even a big wound, and they're making such a fuss.'
He had been cut by a skeleton's sword, but it was just a shallow nick on the surface of his skin.
Honestly, it was much lighter than the cut he'd gotten from handling a kitchen knife not long ago.
It was nothing more than a scrape that wouldn't be an issue once infection was ruled out.
Yet his parents hadn't left his brother Yoon Ho-jun's side for even a moment.
'Would they worry about me like that if I got hurt?'
Swallowing his grumbling inwardly, Yoon Ho-chan looked outside again.
The street where the goblins had vanished was now filled with skeletons, filling the void.
These bone-only creatures possessed far greater strength than goblins.
And there were so many more of them—far too many to compare to the goblins.
"We should've gone out earlier."
He should have moved according to the quest when it was just the easily defeatable goblins.
No—if his family hadn't stopped him, he would have done it much sooner.
But his parents and brother had forcibly made Yoon Ho-chan sit down.
-Don't talk nonsense and stay put! What are you thinking, going out there recklessly!
-Yeah, moving around carelessly could make things worse. This isn't a movie.
In movies, protagonists and their groups escape and shine heroically—pure fiction.
In reality, non-experts who act rashly were far more likely to get seriously hurt or die.
Remembering how his brother had lectured him like that, irritation surged anew.
'Do they think I'm doing this because I want to be the movie hero? I was going to move because there was a clear signpost. The quest gave me something to do.'
Hadn't the quest explicitly mentioned a safety zone?
He'd only suggested moving because it seemed safe once they got there.
From Yoon Ho-chan's experience, quests always came with reliable rewards.
But his family had dismissed the quest itself as suspicious and refused.
-A game? Games show stuff like this? Isn't it dangerous?
-It feels like they're luring kids like you who are used to games.
No matter how passionately he explained, it was no use.
His parents had always viewed games negatively, and his brother was buried in his major's textbooks.
How could he convince people who didn't understand how games worked?
Forget convincing—they even applied miraculous logic that anything game-related was bad.
'And that's how we ended up like this, doing nothing.'
Letting out a sigh, Yoon Ho-chan opened his status window.
A new curse entry had appeared below the status window, one that hadn't been there before.
Just looking at it made his breath catch.
With the status window's appearance, it meant he could level up and raise his abilities.
But to level up, he'd have to put in twice the effort of everyone else?
No matter how hard he tried, he'd only barely climb out of the bottom.
'It's a relief that it lifts automatically after one level-up, but if we keep dawdling... who knows.'
For now, it was just one vanished quest and a minor curse.
But later? It might not be a curse—it could rip away the entire status window.
The thought sent chills racing across his skin.
There was a world of difference between being able to grow eventually and being completely unable to grow.
'If a new quest appears, I have to complete it this time, no matter what.'
Even if his family tried to stop him, he wouldn't listen anymore.
His family knew nothing about quests anyway.
It would be far better for him, who knew at least a little, to judge for himself.
That was when Yoon Ho-chan solidified his resolve.
"...People? Is that a person?"
A shadow moving beyond the window caught his eye.
It was dim, but no matter how he looked, it wasn't a skull.
The two shadows headed toward the road swarming with skeletons.
It was suicidal behavior, and Yoon Ho-chan panicked.
'What do I do? Should I warn them?'
He could open the window and shout, but that might draw the skeletons here.
As he hesitated, unable to decide, a man shouted.
"Black Missile, Black Missile, Black Missile!"
Boom boom boom!
"...!?"
Black orbs shot from the man's hand, and skeletons crumbled in heaps.
Yoon Ho-chan's eyes widened at the sight.
The terrifying skeletons were like scarecrows before the man.
The man, chanting spells fervently, soon cleared all the skeletons.
"Energy Drain."
Fizz...
"Whew, that clears this area too. Jae-yoon, give the signal, please."
"Yes, sir!"
The man dusted off his hands, and the other person, who had been standing quietly beside him, stepped forward.
Seeing the sword at his waist, it was clear he wasn't ordinary either.
-Anyone alive in there!? We're from the safety zone! We've come to rescue any survivors still here!
"Wh-what?"
"Ho-chan, what's that mean? Who are those people?"
"Well..."
As he opened his mouth to answer his bewildered parents,
Protector and Protected
📍 Type: Main Quest
⏰ Details: Waiting for outside help has exposed you to monster threats. But opportunity remains. Those unable to grow on their own should enter the safety zone with a strong person's aid.
🎁 Reward: Safety Zone Entry Permit
"...!"
Yoon Ho-chan's eyes lit up at the finally appearing quest.
His two parents and resting brother wore shocked expressions too.
Yoon Ho-chan quickly explained to his family.
"Those people took out all the skeletons! You know, the bones!"
"What? For real?"
"Yeah, look. Not a single one left. The quest just popped up telling us to follow them to the safety zone."
Excited by the quest, Yoon Ho-chan gestured wildly as he explained.
After the skeletons summoned inside had given them a scare, he figured his parents would listen this time.
But their reaction was no different from before.
"Hmm, this seems dangerous."
"Pardon?"
"Think about it. Why would people with that kind of ridiculous power bother rescuing us? What's in it for them?"
"I agree. Even if it's a safety zone, who knows where they'll take us."
"And the sudden monster summoning—who knows who's behind this."
Yoon Ho-chan was speechless at his parents' and brother's reactions.
After refusing the quest and ending up like this, they were still saying the same things.
There was no need—or reason—to listen anymore.
"The quests keep trying to manipulate our actions on purpose. For now, just stay quiet and—"
"Over here! We're here!"
"H-Ho-chan!? What are you doing!?"
"We're here! Help us! We haven't died yet!"
His parents tried to stop Yoon Ho-chan, but it was too late.
The two men's gazes were fixed on the four family members at the window.
-Over here! Survivors here!
"Finally found one."
I let out a sigh of relief seeing the boy yelling from the window.
For a quest I'd thought would be easy, we hadn't rescued anyone until now.
Though the side income had leveled me to 9, the real prize was the quest reward.
Just as I was running low on time, someone to rescue had finally appeared.
-Apartment 302! 302! Hurry and save us!
"Hold on just a moment! We'll be right up!"
After replying to the kid, I headed up the stairs.
Once on the second floor, Min Jae-yoon grabbed my shoulder and whispered.
"Jong-min, did you see that just now?"
"See what?"
"The kid's family. They were trying to pull him back from yelling."
"I saw. That's how it looked to me too."
"Why would they do that? In this situation, when someone's come to rescue them, they're hiding?"
From what I'd checked, not just electricity and water—communications were cut off too.
No way to request help from anyone, no idea of the outside world.
In that isolation, shouldn't people jump at the chance to be saved?
I had a similar question, but it wasn't entirely incomprehensible.
"Honestly, fear's probably the biggest factor. No guarantee we're normal humans, and more than that..."
"More than that?"
"...they probably haven't given up hope that the army or rescue teams will come. The apocalypse hasn't even been going on that long."
Unless food and water ran out completely, in a situation barely a day in, most would choose isolation.
They'd fear making a wrong move before rescuers arrived and getting into real trouble.
"The problem is the system has no intention of letting that slide."
"Yeah. Skeletons this time, but who knows what'll come next."
The kid's family might not realize it, but getting rescued by us here was tremendous luck.
If they'd stayed silent, who knows what would've spawned next.
"Excuse me. Anyone home?"
-....
"This is 302, right? Didn't you ask to be saved?"
-....
No response.
Clear signs of life inside, so they were definitely hiding.
I exchanged glances with Min Jae-yoon.
"What now?"
"Invite them, and if they refuse, we leave."
Forcing out people who didn't want to come wasn't a real rescue.
They might even blame us later.
Best to persuade once, and if they still refused, move on.
"I get that you might find us suspicious, but we're actually here on a quest. It rewards us for rescuing people and taking them to the safety zone."
-....
"If you don't come out, we'll go. But you really should head to the safety zone if possible. Skeletons suddenly popped up in your house, right?"
-....
"I think more will keep coming. If we leave like this, new skeletons might stab you—what then?"
The silence continued.
I shook my head, and Min Jae-yoon sighed too.
"Let's go. Persuasion isn't working."
"Damn, they'll have to lose everything before they wise up."
As we turned to head down the stairs amid Min Jae-yoon's grumbling,
With a click, the locked door opened.
Looking back, the four-person family stared at us.
"Um, did you really come to help us?"
Whew, success at last.
Min Jae-yoon and I exchanged wry smiles.
Once the ice was broken, convincing them was easy.
They were terrified of more skeletons appearing in their home at any moment too.
-So, no monsters can enter the safety zone?
-That's right. They don't even try.
-But why...?
-No idea. It's a safety zone, so we just accept it.
Even after our explanations, their suspicion lingered, but I drove the point home.
-We won't force you to come. But you'll regret it later.
-Regret? What regret?
-These quests basically strong-arm you into the safety zone.
They keep penalizing those who don't, and that includes risking your life.
-....!
-More people have died than are alive now. All because they didn't enter the safety zone. If you skip this one too, who knows what'll spawn in your living room.
That final line broke their resistance, and the family headed to the safety zone.
Once those four joined, filling the remaining 20 spots happened in a flash.
Just the two of us hadn't felt like a proper rescue team.
But with ordinary-looking people in tow, we instantly looked like the real deal.
Especially the high schooler kid's—the youngest—performance shone.
-Anyone there!? If you're alive, come out! We're heading to the safety zone! Rescuers are with us!
A suspicious two-man team claiming to be rescuers was worlds apart from an ordinary high schooler vouching for us.
People started emerging one by one to join.
-H-hey, people here! Someone help!
-Hold on! I'm coming out—let's go together!
That brought our total to twenty-three.
A tough number for just two to protect, but we didn't need to.
I'd already swept all the skeletons along the way.
The corpses scattered here and there were unavoidable, though.
"Gasp! B-bodies!"
"Urk! Blugh!"
"Don't look! Cover your eyes!"
Near the safety zone, people retched at the sight of gruesomely mutilated corpses.
Reactions varied in intensity, but all were similar.
"Oh no...!"
Min Jae-yoon looked at me with a troubled face.
We risked being seen as leading them to a more dangerous place.
I winked at Min Jae-yoon to say not to worry.
Before anyone else could speak, I deliberately clicked my tongue and muttered.
"If they'd run just a bit faster, they might've made it... but they got caught by skeletons right before. Tsk, so pitiful."
"...!"
"Wonder who cleans up bodies from people who died at home. If their families died too..."
The survivors' faces turned pale.
They realized they and their families could end up the same.
Dealing with the home-invading skeletons had been sheer luck.
Countless others were likely corpses rolling inside locked doors.
And without entering the safety zone in time, they might become corpses next.
Min Jae-yoon scanned the quiet crowd and subtly thumbs-upped me.
'Brilliant!'
'No big deal.'
The key was making them realize home was more dangerous than the safety zone.
Once that sank in, scattered corpses wouldn't get us blamed.
We were taking them somewhere safer, after all.
Passing the mangled bodies, I pointed to the safety zone and shouted.
"There! That's the safety zone! No monsters can enter!"
"Safety zone...!"
At my words, eyes widened, and they dashed inside.
A medieval village might seem eerie, but no skeletons could enter.
Having seen those horrific corpses just before, no one hesitated.
As the twenty-three survivors all rushed in,
Yes, that's it.
I clenched my fist and quickly opened my inventory.