Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Home
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There were uninvited guests in the house I had returned to after great hardship.
"There's no water! Water! Because of who?"
"That's why I said we need to use it sparingly. And we all used it together...."
The noisy bickering of several men carried over from beyond the front gate.
"Hyung-nim. Maybe acquaintances...?"
I shook my head at Jang Ho-seop's question.
He looked at my face and swallowed dryly.
"So what are you gonna do? Kick 'em out or what?"
"Should we?"
I could understand it with my head.
We'd done the same—farmed wherever we could, rested in random spots.
These guys were probably no different.
They'd just wandered into a safe, intact house.
"Still, leaving now might be..."
"The roads are all cleared anyway. Ah, this coward bastard."
But understanding something logically didn't mean I could forgive it.
"Are they crazy? Making all this racket?"
I pushed open the gate while listening to Jang Ho-seop's mutter.
The gate, which I always kept locked, swung open easily.
I stepped into the narrow yard and confirmed the first-floor window was shattered.
Taking a deep breath, I headed for the front door.
Click.
My house had no door lock.
I inserted the key and turned it.
"Huh? What's that?"
The men's voices cut off at the sound of the lock disengaging.
I opened the door and stepped inside.
Jang Ho-seop vanished smoothly, while the rest of the group followed me in casually.
"Who are you?"
Four men were gathered in the first-floor living room.
Two were standing, two sitting on the sofa.
I quickly scanned the surroundings.
Fortunately, the furniture and picture frames were intact.
"The homeowner."
"What?"
What pissed me off was that they were all still wearing their shoes.
The wooden floorboards, old but always kept spotless, were trashed.
Footprints smeared the window frames.
A few pairs of shoes sat by the stairs to the second floor.
The kitchen was piled with trash.
I could guess how these bastards had been using my house.
"Hey, what do we do?"
At my response, the other three men all turned to one guy.
The one sitting on the sofa.
He stood up.
He was taller than me.
About 190 cm, with a solid build.
"You're the homeowner, mister?"
I showed them the house key and pointed to a picture frame off to the side.
A photo of me and my mom, taken before she passed.
"Hmm...."
The man hesitated.
Late teens or early twenties, maybe.
The four seemed like friends.
This Dumpling-Ears guy in front of me looked a bit rough around the edges, though.
"You know how things are right now, right? Monsters and all that."
Dumpling-Ears pointed to the green blood staining his clothes as he spoke.
"We cleared the monsters around here."
I'd held back my anger well.
From their reactions, I figured I could talk them down.
"Hey. She's fucking gorgeous."
"Right? Who is she?"
Dumpling-Ears's friends muttered quietly.
They were staring blankly at Lee Yu-na.
"Ah, shut up. We're talking."
"Huh? Oh, uh, sorry."
"Sorry, sorry."
Dumpling-Ears snapped at his friends, then gave me and my group a once-over.
Lee Jang-su, Soo-jung, and Lee Yu-na.
Then he met my eyes again, looking more confident.
"In a way, it's like we protected your house for you."
"You think so?"
"Yeah. I do."
I kept a blank expression and pointed to the window.
"There's a cart in the yard."
"A cart?"
"Consider it payment. It's loaded with food and cigarettes."
Dumpling-Ears's friends excitedly checked outside the window and turned back.
"Hey hey! It's real. It's packed."
"Whoa, this guy's loaded."
"Water too. Guess we don't need to head out."
I hated watching these punks strut around.
They talked right in front of me without a care that I was standing there.
"You're giving it all?"
"Yes."
That's how it was.
Normally, people kept their distance from strangers unless circumstances forced otherwise.
They instinctively avoided invading others' space.
But some people couldn't manage that.
People who didn't care who was around.
Especially when they had their crew with them—that trait stood out more.
These guys were exactly like that.
One of them swung his arm excitedly, nearly clipping me, so I quickly stepped back.
They thought we weren't a threat.
No, it was more than that—they were looking down on us.
"In exchange, please vacate the house."
These uninvited guests were nothing but stress from head to toe.
Their speech, their arrogant expressions and tones.
Still, I held it together till the end and said it.
"Right now? At this hour?"
"Where are we supposed to go?"
"This house is nice though...."
Dumpling-Ears's friends immediately pushed back at the request to leave.
Dumpling-Ears stared at Lee Yu-na for a moment before answering.
"That won't work."
"There are plenty of intact houses nearby."
"We like this one."
I'd thought I could talk them around, but that was my mistake.
The world didn't bend to my will that easily.
Dumpling-Ears and his friends' stance was simple.
They wanted to share the house.
I tried to persuade them otherwise.
I thought offering the cart's supplies would be enough, but they saw it as a given reward.
They wanted more.
And that's when the conversation started veering into weird territory.
"Ah, I'm hungry. Can't we eat first and talk?"
"Right. Let's check out that cart?"
Dumpling-Ears nodded.
Already acting like the cart was theirs.
"Hey, how old are you? Older than us?"
"What's your name?"
The punks sidled up to Lee Yu-na, getting sleazy.
Ah, one of them was relatively quiet.
Lee Yu-na ignored them with a blank face.
"Hey? You deaf?"
"Heh heh heh. She's ignoring you 'cause you're too pushy."
Two of the guys kept snickering like they'd been drinking.
"For real? Damn. That pisses me off."
"So what're you gonna do? What can you even do?"
"What can he do? Especially right now."
Playful tone or not, these kids were threatening.
Hinting the joke might not end as one.
Lee Yu-na ignored them to the end and looked at me.
"Huh? What's she looking at you for?"
"You're getting totally ignored, man."
"Whoa... I'm really gonna get hurt here?"
I nodded to Lee Yu-na.
Meaning to hold back.
I was holding back too.
Sploosh.
But a stream of water rose behind Lee Yu-na's back.
Had I gotten the signal wrong?
Splash!
It happened in an instant.
Lee Yu-na sprayed water in the men's faces.
Stab.
And drew her knife, swinging it at the same time.
The blade sank into the throat of the guy who'd shoved his face in hers.
'What.'
Lee Yu-na's movements were swift and precise.
No hesitation, perfect technique.
Just like when I first met her.
But the outcome didn't sit right with me.
"Jang Ho-seop!"
It didn't sit right, but it was done.
No helping it now.
The moment she splashed the water, I threw a fist at Dumpling-Ears's jaw.
Thud.
Dumpling-Ears crumpled, knocked out.
Jang Ho-seop dropped his invisibility and slit one man's throat.
"Wha—?"
I hefted my axe and stared down the last man.
"On your knees."
"Y-Yes? Oh, yes, yes. Please spare me."
Jang Ho-seop cuffed the kneeling man.
Covered his eyes and mouth too.
I suppressed my rising fury and bound Dumpling-Ears.
"Lee Yu-na."
"Yes...."
Was it my expression?
Lee Yu-na answered in a deflated voice.
As I approached her, Lee Jang-su pulled her protectively close.
"This is my house."
"Yes? Y-Yes... it is."
There was one reason I'd held back.
I didn't want to dirty this precious space any more.
Lee Yu-na had turned that effort to waste.
"My house."
"Yes...."
"You."
I was so angry words wouldn't come.
I pointed at the blood-smeared floor.
"Hyung-nim."
Jang Ho-seop cut in.
I looked at his face, then finally turned away.
I knew.
The root cause was these uninvited guests.
"Mister. I'll clean it up right away. I... I'll...."
Lee Yu-na's choked voice came from behind.
It had been four days since I'd come home.
A distance I could've walked in two or three hours had taken days.
A journey risking our lives.
Yet there was a reason I had to return no matter what.
Rattle.
I opened the door to the master bedroom.
Didn't go in—just checked the wall visually.
"Phew...."
I let out a sigh of relief.
The master bedroom was clean compared to the living room.
I wanted to go in and check something myself right away, but I held back.
My hands and body were filthy right now.
I'd clean up first, then check alone when no one would disturb me.
The reason I absolutely had to come back here.
"Ho-seop."
"Yes? Oh, yes, hyung-nim."
He jumped when I used just his name, dropping the honorific.
We'd made it here thanks to his help too.
That's why I'd called him by name.
"Let's move those guys to the yard."
Climbing the hill, I'd felt excited.
That feeling had crashed when we reached the gate.
Because of those bastards.
The joy, excitement, happiness of returning home.
They'd ruined it all.
"Yes, sir!"
Jang Ho-seop answered energetically.
Lee Yu-na was watching me warily.
"Urgh."
The man Jang Ho-seop attacked had died instantly.
The one Lee Yu-na stabbed was still breathing, thanks to Soo-jung's first aid.
I dragged one corpse and three men to the yard.
"What do we do?"
"We need to know their skills."
They'd ruined my precious things.
So I'd ruin theirs too.
"You hear that? Tell us your skills. It'll go easier if you do."
Jang Ho-seop activated Lie Detection and questioned the trembling man.
Thankfully, he cooperated quickly.
"So this guy's skill crushes anything he grabs, yours is search-type? Visual? That one's gets stronger with weapons."
"Yes, yes. That's right. Bros, please spare me."
Jang Ho-seop looked at me.
All of them had good Fundamental Skills awakened.
"I'll handle it from here."
Didn't matter.
Nothing more to ask.
"Got it. Should I head inside and tidy up?"
"Yeah. Oh, don't touch the master bedroom. I'll do that."
"Yes, sir!"
Jang Ho-seop went into the house.
I gripped my axe.
Thwack.
"Grrruuugh!"
I struck the unconscious Dumpling-Ears's wrist with the poll of the axe.
He woke screaming.
Thwack thwack thwack thwack.
I kept hitting.
Even after the bones broke.
Did the same to both wrists.
Then untied the cloth over his eyes and ripped off the tape over his mouth.
"You fucking bastard. You fuck—Arrrgh!"
Dumpling-Ears thrashed.
I stomped his mangled wrist and said,
"Watch closely."
I approached the man who'd cooperated readily.
Between the already-dead one and this guy, these two had been the least obnoxious.
Whoosh. Crack.
Axe to the neck—dead in one blow.
No time to waste, so pick and choose.
"Uh...."
Dumpling-Ears watched wide-eyed through his pain.
Next, the man Lee Yu-na had stabbed.
"Don't come closer...."
Lying there, clutching his wound, glaring at me.
Still had breath to speak.
This time, I aimed the poll at him again.
They had precious things too.
Right now, probably their own bodies most of all.
Smack.
"Arrrgh!"
I started with his toes.
The guy who'd leered at Lee Yu-na writhed in agony.
His hand slipped from his neck, and blood gushed from the stab wound.
Smack smack smack smack smack.
The man didn't last long.
Ten toes. Five fingers.
That was it.
No more reactions.
I looked at Dumpling-Ears after killing the two men.
"Your turn now."
I raised my axe again to ruin Dumpling-Ears's precious things.
Of the four uninvited guests, Dumpling-Ears had the strongest aura.
Bigger than Jang Ho-seop's, smaller than Kang Hye-seon's—around level 12.
That's why he lasted longest.
"Please... just kill me."
The guy who'd begged to live now begged for death.
His arrogant speech had turned polite.
His hands and feet were a mangled mess.
"What's your level?"
I suddenly wondered how accurate my level guesses from aura were.
"Cough... 11."
"Ah, off by one."
Kang Hye-seon might be a bit lower than I'd thought.
"My mistake. Please stop...."
"My mistake" was useless now.
That was for begging forgiveness at home or school.
Once you screwed up, that was it.
I had no ties to Dumpling-Ears, and there were no laws or rules here.
So I raised the axe again.
"Now for the big bones."
His small bones were all shattered.
Started on the shins again.
Then when I struck his core.
Dumpling-Ears's eyes bulged in extreme pain.
"Grraaagh."
And died.
Damage must've stacked up.
Good enough.
"Ho-seop! Jang Ho-seop!"
"Yes, hyung-nim! Coming!"
We brought in the luggage from the cart through the broken window.
Loaded the four corpses onto it and left them on the road.
"Hyung-nim. Pretty much cleaned up. Second floor's spotless. Oh, didn't touch the master bedroom."
"Yeah. Good work."
I extracted the Mana Stones and returned home.
Bloodstains, footprints—all scrubbed clean.
Lee Yu-na must've worked hard with her skill.
"Lee Jang-su. Can you patch this up temporarily?"
I pointed at the broken window.
Was it their screams?
Lee Jang-su's fear of me had grown.
"Need materials...."
"To the shed."
We went out to the yard and headed to the shed in the corner.
Lee Jang-su followed, then froze staring at the blood-soaked dirt.
"Here. Take a look."
"Ah, yes."
The sun had set.
Still so much to do.
Before I knew it, I'd forgotten the uninvited guests and kept moving busily.
I just wanted to get into the master bedroom quickly.