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# Chapter 3
"Everything, including the final payment, has been completed. You are now the island's full legal owner."
The court employee handed over the document envelope, wearing an ambiguous expression.
His gaze seemed closer to curiosity or pity than envy.
260 million won.
It wasn't surprising that the employee reacted that way. Seok-ho had spent such a large sum on an uninhabited island
without a single electrical connection.
Seok-ho gave a slight bow and walked out of the courthouse.
Bzzzt, bzzzt.
His smartphone vibrated repeatedly inside his pocket, almost as if it were having a seizure.
The caller displayed on the screen was his younger sister, Im Ji-hye.
Seok-ho let out a deep sigh before pressing the answer button.
"Oppa. Have you seriously gone crazy?!"
A scream loud enough to burst his eardrums erupted from the other end of the phone.
Seok-ho instinctively moved the smartphone about ten centimeters away from his ear.
"I'm going to lose my hearing. Lower your voice."
"Do I look like I can lower my voice right now? Mom is about to collapse from shock! Did you seriously pour over 200
million won into that useless rocky island?"
"260 million."
"Are you bragging about that, you pathetic idiot?! I heard you put in your severance pay and all the savings you broke!
Go back right now and tell them you want to cancel the purchase!"
"Do you think a court auction is like buying something at the neighborhood supermarket? You think they'll give me a
refund if I bring the receipt?"
"Aaaah! What are you going to do, seriously?! It's already unfair that you got fired from your company, so why did you
suddenly buy an uninhabited island? You should've opened a chicken restaurant with that money!"
"There's too much competition in the chicken business. I'm going to run a fishing pension there."
"Who's going to go fishing on that rotten rock of an island?! Everyone's going to die when their boats flip over in the
waves on the way there!"
At his sister's rapid-fire nagging, Seok-ho let out a quiet chuckle.
"I have everything planned out. Don't worry, and make sure Mom takes her blood pressure medicine. I'm too busy to visit
for a while."
"Hey! Oppa! You damn son of a—!"
Click.
Seok-ho ended the call without hesitation.
His family's reaction had been exactly what he expected.
Soon afterward, a series of KakaoTalk messages arrived from a junior colleague at his former workplace.
[Assistant Manager Im. Sunbae, did you really win the auction for Haewoldo? The group chat is going crazy right now.
Everyone's whispering that you were so shocked that you went into the mountains and became some kind of hermit.]
Seok-ho scoffed and began typing on the keyboard.
[I live my own life. Just focus on your work and don't let the site manager push you around.]
He shoved his smartphone into his pocket, his steps feeling light.
It might have looked like madness to everyone else, but the true value of Haewoldo was something only those who
understood it could see.
After being crushed by paperwork and performance targets at the company, then being pushed out as if he were fired for
speaking up about safety issues and falling out of favor with the higher-ups, the bitter sense of defeat he had felt
back then had long since been washed away by the salty sea breeze of the southern coast.
My capital is a little tight.
Seok-ho mentally ran through the numbers.
He needed to buy a boat and establish the minimum infrastructure required for daily life.
Without wasting any time, he drove a rental car toward a port in the southern coastal region.
Used fishing boats listed for sale were lined up and moored along one side of the harbor.
Seok-ho was inspecting a three-ton used fiberglass fishing boat with a boat dealer.
After opening the hatch and looking into the engine room, Seok-ho furrowed his brow.
"Boss, judging by the oil leaking around the pump, I'm going to have to spend quite a bit more on repairs immediately.
Let's settle at 25 million won."
"Well, damn. Young man, you've got sharp eyes. But I need at least 27 million to make a living."
"Even 25 million is generous when you include the cost of reinforcing that worn-out propeller. 26 million. I'll transfer
the cash right away."
Faced with Seok-ho's firm attitude, the dealer scratched his head.
"All right, damn it! Fine, take it!"
And just like that, his transportation problem was solved.
Next came the survival supplies he needed to eat and sleep on the uninhabited island.
He stopped by a building materials supplier and loaded up on sandwich panels, square steel pipes, cement, and a set of
tools.
Afterward, he loaded a small three-kilowatt generator and two one-ton drinking water storage tanks onto a cargo truck.
"You're taking all of this to an uninhabited island?"
Three laborers hired from a manpower agency stared wide-eyed at the piles of materials stacked on the pier.
The burly foreman shook his head in disbelief.
"Boss, I hear the route to Haewoldo is a real nightmare. How are we supposed to move all this heavy stuff?"
"I'll clear the paths on the island first and carry everything with you. I'll pay you a fair daily wage, so just make
sure nothing gets damaged and nobody gets hurt."
Thanks to Seok-ho's practiced handling of the situation, the laborers began transferring the materials onto the fishing
boat, grumbling as they worked.
By afternoon, the newly purchased used fishing boat was cutting through the rough waters toward Haewoldo.
"Ugh. Why are the waves so damn rough?"
The laborers turned pale with seasickness and clung to the side of the boat.
Waves surging in from the open sea were crashing against the reefs around the island, causing the water to churn
violently.
However, Seok-ho's expression remained calm as he held the steering wheel.
"Hold the ropes tightly. We'll be there in no time if we ride the current."
He finely adjusted the engine power and skillfully navigated the currents between the reefs.
The boat slipped smoothly into the water beside the ruined pier.
Thud.
The bow lightly touched the tire fenders, and Seok-ho immediately jumped off and secured the mooring rope to a
protruding steel reinforcement bar.
"All right, let's unload."
The laborers didn't breathe a sigh of relief until they had stepped onto solid ground that wasn't swaying beneath their
feet.
A thick scent of grass mixed with the salty sea air permeated the island.
Seok-ho immediately took a brush cutter out of the storage area and started the engine.
Vrrrrrrr!
The thorny bushes and waist-high weeds were cut down by the sharp blades, as if being harvested.
A path roughly two meters wide was cleared in an instant, stretching from the pier to the abandoned warehouse in the
center of the island.
"Heave-ho! Come on!"
The laborers loaded sandwich panels and the generator onto handcarts, repeatedly wiping sweat from their brows.
When they arrived in front of the warehouse, a building with its roof blown away and only a skeletal frame remaining
greeted them.
"Man, this place looks like a damn haunted house. What kind of idiot wastes money building something here?"
Despite the laborers' complaints, Seok-ho silently pushed the trash inside the abandoned warehouse outside.
"The framework is made of structural steel, so it's very sturdy. If we remove the slate roofing and enclose it with
these panels, it'll make an excellent temporary shelter."
Under Seok-ho's direction, the work proceeded rapidly.
He skillfully used an electric drill to drive in screws, raising the walls and covering the roof.
In no time, a space of roughly sixteen square meters was completed, capable of protecting them from the wind and rain.
He set up the generator on one side, ran the wiring, and started it.
Rrrr-r-r-r!
Along with the rough engine noise, the work light hanging from the ceiling suddenly lit up with a bright yellow glow.
"Ohhh!"
The laborers exclaimed in admiration.
"Now that the lights are on, it actually looks like a place where people live."
Seok-ho took cold ion drinks out of the cooler and handed them around.
"Good work, everyone. I've just transferred your full daily wages to your accounts. Now, let's get on the boat and head
back."
"Huh? Boss, aren't you leaving with us?"
The foreman opened his eyes wide.
"I have to sleep here. It's my house, after all."
"You're sleeping alone on this creepy uninhabited island? What are you going to do if wild animals or ghosts show up at
night?"
"Loan interest is scarier than ghosts. Come on, I'll take you to the harbor and see you off."
After taking the laborers back to the mainland, Seok-ho returned to Haewoldo before the sun had completely set.
Darkness had settled over Haewoldo.
The moisture in the wind blowing in from the sea felt ominous.
Thick clouds packed the sky, and large raindrops began to fall with a pattering sound.
Inside the temporary shelter.
With the generator humming steadily, Seok-ho placed a camping pot on a portable gas burner.
The smell of boiling ramen filled the small room.
"This is the stuff."
His smartphone screen still displayed No Service.
Outside, the storm had begun in earnest.
The fierce rain and wind relentlessly battered the sandwich panel walls.
Whoooosh!
The sound of waves crashing against the reefs rang out with such tremendous force that it seemed capable of swallowing
the entire island.
As Seok-ho lifted noodles and ate, he organized the tasks he needed to complete tomorrow in his head.
Connecting the water tank pipes, clearing more weeds around the warehouse, and estimating the cost of pouring concrete
at the pier.
His body would be worked to the bone, but a strange sense of liberation filled his chest.
He no longer had to force himself to submit reports to anyone or worry about pleasing an insensitive superior.
As the night deepened, the rain and wind became increasingly violent.
The wind passed through the gaps in the panels, producing a sharp, shrill whistling sound.
Screeeeech!
The sound of tree branches outside bending under the powerful wind struck his ears, as if they were about to snap.
Seok-ho pushed the empty cooking pot aside and lay down on his comfortable sleeping bag.
"Hopefully, the waves calm down a little tomorrow so I can get some work done."
He was gazing at the ceiling and slowly preparing to close his eyes when—
KWAANG!
It wasn't the sound of thunder.
A heavy cracking boom tore through the sound of the wind, shaking the ground from the direction of the island's summit.
Seok-ho instinctively raised his upper body.
"What was that?"
It wasn't simply the sound of a rotten tree breaking in the storm.
It was a heavy, dull crash, as if a concrete or steel structure had collapsed helplessly.
The only artificial structure standing at the island's summit was the old abandoned lighthouse.
The white lighthouse he had confirmed on the satellite map and seen with his own eyes during the day, with the heavily
rusted padlock firmly securing its door.
Bang! Rumble!
Another deafening boom echoed.
A faint vibration traveled through the floor, as though some heavy debris had slid down the slope.
Seok-ho quickly put on the work jacket beside him and grabbed his headlamp.
But the moment he flung open the door, heavy rain lashed violently against his face.
Pitch-black darkness, making it impossible to see even a step ahead.
The wind was so strong that it was difficult to keep his balance.
Climbing the muddy slope covered in thorny bushes in this weather would be tantamount to risking his life.
One wrong step, and he would inevitably tumble down the cliff into the dark sea below.
"Fuck. Of all days, why did it have to collapse today?"
Seok-ho bit his lip, closed the door again, and secured the lock.
The sounds of the collapse near the lighthouse shook the ground several more times at irregular intervals before
gradually fading beneath the roar of the waves.
But Seok-ho's heartbeat did not settle so easily.
The records supposedly left behind by the last lighthouse keeper, Choi Deok-mun.
What on earth was happening beyond that metal door, which had been firmly locked with a padlock?
The sound had been far too destructive to be explained by simple deterioration and collapse.
Seok-ho switched off his headlamp and stood with his arms crossed, silently staring into the darkness outside the
window.
The sound of rain striking the exterior walls pierced his ears with unusual sharpness.
It looked like it was going to be a long, long night.
"As soon as daylight comes, I need to head up there immediately."