Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Uncomfortable Proposal, Good Choice
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13. Uncomfortable Proposal, Good Choice
It wasn't until the sun had fully set that we finally made it home.
I'd grown accustomed to returning with the whole group.
Walking alone with just Jang Ho-seop felt strangely empty.
Clunk.
The moment I opened the front gate and stepped into the yard.
Threat Detection triggered.
Whoosh!
I dodged the attack flying straight at my head.
"It's me."
The new threat line vanished as soon as they heard my voice.
"Ah, sorry! I thought you were a thief."
Yu-na had been standing watch.
The spot where her water arrow had struck was deeply gouged into the ground.
"Whoa... bro. That looked like she was aiming to kill."
"No, I made it blunt on purpose... Huh? Sunbae! Are you okay?"
Yu-na approached with a lantern lit up.
She bristled at Jang Ho-seop's words, then widened her eyes in surprise.
"I'm fine~"
Jang Ho-seop grinned and rolled his arm to show off.
Yu-na glanced at Jang Ho-seop for a moment before quickly losing interest.
"Wow, that's too much."
"You're really okay, right? It didn't hit you? I had no idea it was you..."
"I'm good. You did well."
I praised Yu-na, who was making a miserable face, and headed inside.
It was dead silent.
No one had eaten dinner yet, so the air just smelled of aged wood.
And in the living room, where a single candle flickered, Soo-jung was crouched down.
"Mom."
Auntie looked up at Jang Ho-seop's voice.
She stared blankly at her son for a moment before jumping to her feet in shock.
"Ho-seop!"
She stroked his face, checked his arms.
Mother and son cried together, fussing noisily for a while.
In the meantime, the uncle from next door and Bom noona, who had been in her room, gathered in the living room too.
"Yi Hyun-ssi. Thank you. Thank you so much."
Once she'd calmed down a bit, Auntie wiped her tears and came over to me.
She bowed deeply in greeting...
"You've given us a debt of gratitude we can never repay. What more can I do for you?"
It wasn't just a bow.
Auntie knelt down before me.
Then she slowly prostrated herself fully.
Her emotions were surging.
Not just the existing gratitude and trust, but her affection grew even stronger.
It wasn't romantic love between man and woman.
It was love for me as a person.
'That's too much.'
I understood the gratitude, but the expression was over the top.
No, it wasn't just the expression—her emotions were excessively deep and intense.
Nothing like when we first met.
"Just keep doing what you've been doing. You don't need to do this."
"Yes. Thank you. Thank you."
Auntie repeated her thanks, flat on the ground.
I told her I understood several times, then signaled Bom noona to help her up.
"There are a few things we need to talk about. But first..."
We needed to talk, but I wanted to wash up first.
I was hungry too.
While Jang Ho-seop and I cleaned up, the others prepared dinner.
#
The smell of doenjang jjigae wafted through the air.
Sesame oil too, rich and savory.
"Whew, now it finally feels like a home where people live! You all must've been so lonely without me, right?"
Jang Ho-seop sat at the table, cracking jokes.
His face was lit up with happiness.
He'd been like that ever since our conversation on the way back.
"No one took the stuff we left at the department store today, right?"
"No way. If they did, I'd really cry."
Yu-na and Bom noona looked cheerful too.
We ate dinner in a warm, harmonious atmosphere.
"Shall we talk now?"
I'd already told them about getting help from Kang Hye-seon's faction.
And what she'd demanded in return for treating Jang Ho-seop.
"And in the info exchange, I agreed to concede something."
"Concede?"
"Yeah. Yongsan Station. They'll handle the cleanup there."
Kang Hye-seon's group was huge.
A massive facility like Yongsan Station was bound to tempt them.
Whether orcs or supplies.
"Ah... so that's basically payment for treating your arm."
"It's fine. We have until tomorrow, so we can farm what we need."
In exchange, they'd clear the path from Yongsan Station to their base.
With trade between our groups in mind.
"And I realized something this time."
Fundamental Skills.
The power of the Fundamental Skills people awakened to was incredible.
"Auntie, look at his arm. What would modern medicine have done?"
"Impossible. Infection, blood flow, nerves, rehab, aftereffects... So many things to worry about. Recovery alone would take months..."
Jang Ho-seop was moving his reattached arm naturally right now.
Grip strength was a bit down, but no problem for daily tasks like holding a spoon.
"They said they have a doctor. But this wasn't the work of one doctor."
"Right."
"I think I overlooked the importance of diverse Fundamental Skills. And their potential."
At first, I'd even thought of poaching their doctor.
A momentary greed.
But thinking it over, that wouldn't work.
"We need people too. Not just treatment skills, but all kinds of fields..."
Originally, I'd planned to build our forces gradually over time.
Focus on leveling up with the group and solidifying our base.
But we couldn't just prepare forever.
"I've changed my mind. We need to start recruiting people."
Having felt the need, I'd act immediately.
We weren't low-level anymore.
My group would rank high even among Kang Hye-seon's swordsmen.
"I think the same as you, bro. If we wait longer, people might all die."
Jang Ho-seop nodded.
We were in central Seoul, with its high population density.
Yet it was hard to find living, moving people.
It had been over two weeks since the cataclysm.
The longer it went, the worse it'd get.
"The dilemma is where to set up base."
Seeing them all nod, I got to the main point.
Everything so far was settled by my decision.
So I stated it plainly.
"This place isn't suitable."
I'd pondered it alone.
If we recruit, who and how.
And where and how to live.
The biggest issue was the location for our base.
Having the ability to choose made it harder.
"We need to move. Where do you think is best?"
"Move? Not staying here?"
"Yeah. It's hard to procure water like this."
We got water through farming.
Yu-na's skill minimized waste.
But this method had limits.
We needed a stable water source.
"Right... water. Water's key... Huh?"
"What? Got a good idea?"
"No. Bro, that thing you said earlier..."
Jang Ho-seop suddenly looked at me with wide eyes.
"What?"
"You said we had to burn the house. You meant this house?"
I nodded.
The others reacted with shock too.
#
Last night, we'd huddled with the group late into the night, discussing.
Where to move.
'The rainy season...'
Water's importance brought up the Han River area first.
And we quickly gave it up.
The biggest reason to abandon the riverbank was flood risk.
Dams regulating the Han lost function.
City drainage collapsed.
Too many unstable factors.
No one in the group was an expert.
Just scraps from news.
Still, we concluded it was too risky.
'Even when society was fine, flooding happened every year.'
Floods weren't the only danger.
Riverbanks exposed us to enemies.
Monsters in the water too.
'Gates are there, but who knows.'
Other candidates besides Han River area came up.
After weighing options, we decided.
We'd head north.
North of my house was a women's university.
Northwest, Baekho Pass, a low ridge.
Between the university and pass flowed Eunhyeon Stream, a small Han tributary.
We'd scout around there.
"Heh heh heh."
"What's with you?"
Today, we were at Yongsan Station.
Jang Ho-seop grinned as he hauled supplies.
"It's a women's university. I always wanted to go as an exchange student."
Just going to a women's college excited him.
Love blooms even in chaos, he said.
He hadn't shown it before, but Jang Ho-seop wanted a girlfriend.
"Yeah. Seize the chance if you get it."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Thought I'd say no?"
"No, it's not that... I just lack confidence."
Jang Ho-seop said he'd never succeeded with a girl he liked.
Going to a women's college just made his heart flutter pointlessly; he answered glumly.
Nothing I could say.
"Oh? It's here. Unni! The stuff we set aside is untouched."
Yu-na called out from over there.
She was thrilled the items from yesterday's farming were still there.
'All good.'
This was the site of yesterday's raid, yet no one seemed anxious.
We needed more people like this.
People who trusted, followed, and obeyed me.
Expanding didn't mean taking anyone.
I'd set standards, make it systematic like a market.
After all, I was the key.
"Yi Hyun, first batch of supplies secured."
"Got it. Home, then back."
I kept moving, thoughts swirling.
That day, we just farmed back and forth between home and Yongsan Station.
#
The next day.
We were patrolling the neighborhood.
"You're being honest?"
"Yes, yes. Really."
"Hm... Alright. Take this."
"Thank you. Thank you."
Jang Ho-seop talked with a man.
Then handed over prepared food.
"Think it over and come to this address."
"Yes, got it."
Conversation done, we left the man's house.
It was a villa.
Down on the first floor, the others waited.
"How'd it go?"
Yu-na asked Jang Ho-seop.
"Just average. Skills and person."
So, we were screening neighbors.
Checking Fundamental Skills, dangling bait.
Regrettably, no treatment skills.
"No real healing skills, huh."
"Yeah. Feels rarer than attack skills?"
I listened to Jang Ho-seop and Yu-na as we moved on.
When Target Detection picked up human presences, we'd knock.
Reactions were always the same.
Fear.
But temptation of food won; they opened up.
"So many intact buildings... but fewer people than expected."
We finished the planned area before evening.
Survivors near my house seemed killed by those mandu-eared bastards.
Quite a few died by my hand for being rude.
Some might've left.
So fewer locals than anticipated.
"Bro?"
"Here too. Two."
Last alley.
Energy from the innermost detached house.
One awakened, one very faint.
Thud thud thud.
"Anyone home?"
Jang Ho-seop knocked.
No response.
"We know you're in there! Open up! Just wanna talk!"
Persistent coaxing finally opened the door.
A woman, late 20s to early 30s.
"Huh? Uh..."
But Jang Ho-seop panicked.
Because she had a baby strapped to her back.
First living baby since the cataclysm.
And even more surprising.
"Yi Hyun... Ah, no. Sai-hyun-ssi, right?"
The woman staring right at me knew my name.
A stranger recognized me.