Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Wind and Sun
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By the time the sun was setting, we finished farming and headed back.
The group members who had stayed at the dormitory were all out in the open space by the back gate.
"Brother! Did you have a good trip?"
Jang Ho-seop greeted me energetically.
His face was beaming with excitement.
"Yeah. It was fine. We got a ton of loot."
The people who had moved with me were all loaded down with gear.
There was just so much food we'd scavenged from the commercial district.
"There's still a ton left to loot."
"Oh? Really? Looks like the Vikma herd didn't sweep through there."
"Nah, it seems like they did go that way."
There was no food left around the back gate.
The Vikma herd had punched holes even in canned goods and devoured everything.
But in the commercial district by the main gate, there were quite a few spots that hadn't been touched.
No people or monsters around.
The Vikma herd had probably expanded their territory starting from the back gate side.
They would've eaten living creatures first.
"We just grabbed food for now, but there were tons of other useful stuff too."
Beyond food and daily necessities, there were plenty of handy items.
Like vacuum-sealed containers, for example.
These days, there are products that use a simple hand pump to turn airtight containers into a vacuum state.
Stuff like that is great for long-term food storage.
It takes effort, but we're in no position to be picky.
Food was the top priority, so we put off scavenging that other stuff for later.
"Dinner's all ready."
Tables and chairs were lined up long across the back gate clearing.
Drum barrels were placed here and there, with fires roaring brightly.
I'd given permission.
I'd said they could grill meat as long as we could source firewood.
But I hadn't expected it to be on this scale.
"The students gathered it all."
I just nodded.
I was looking forward to it too.
It had been ages since I'd had grilled meat over an open fire.
Our protein sources were limited.
Naturally, we often had to sacrifice flavor.
"Right this way."
I just wiped my hands and took a seat.
"From what I saw, Vikma meat stays fresh longer than expected."
Jang Ho-seop was grilling the meat himself.
Others in the group started grilling too.
Sizzle...
Sunset hues and the sound of meat searing.
Smoke rising and a cool breeze.
Flutter, flutter.
And the delicious aroma to top it off.
"This is white meat, right?"
"Yeah, lucky us."
Goblins and orcs weren't just green on the skin—they were green all the way through.
Vikma meat, on the other hand, was nice and pale.
"We tested it. The hind legs were the chewiest."
Two female students stood by Jang Ho-seop, fanning steadily.
Students at other drum barrels were fanning with large planks and such.
"According to Hong-sik hyung, it tastes like rabbit meat!"
Jang Ho-seop neatly sliced and placed meat in front of me.
Salted and peppered just right, grilled to perfection.
At a glance, no one would guess it was monster meat.
"Dig in!"
We started eating with the group.
No matter how much we'd checked it out, it was still Vikma meat.
Meat from a grotesque-looking monster.
There could be unknown risks, and it might feel off-putting.
But no one showed any sign of that.
Because it was meat.
"Ah... It's so good."
Yu-na murmured in quiet admiration.
She was right.
It was delicious.
'In reality, beef or pork would probably taste better...'
Jang Ho-seop had specially gathered hind leg meat just for my table and grilled it separately.
The yield was excellent, allowing us to grill by cut.
He'd picked the hind legs as the tastiest, but they were still pretty tough.
Objectively, it didn't measure up to beef, chicken, or pork.
"It's good. Really."
But right now...
In this moment, it was tastier than any meat I'd ever had.
Like instant noodles during a march in the army.
"Heh heh heh heh. Meat~ Tasty and packed with protein~ Mmm hmm."
Jang Ho-seop sang a weird tune as he moved to another spot.
Heading to the twin dorms' Building 2 to keep grilling.
"Chewy hind legs~ Melts in your mouth!"
He raised his voice in an annoyingly cheerful tone.
The fanning crew followed, spreading the grilling aroma.
"Om nom nom. Oh... Ahem. It really melts. Melts away."
I couldn't see it, but Target Detection picked it up.
The people inside Building 2 were all pressed up against the windows.
Soon, the door opened, and a few came out.
"Um..."
They started begging, and after Jang Ho-seop said something, they nodded.
I'd slept in Twin Dorm Building 1 last night too.
I got up early in the morning and stretched in the unfamiliar space.
"Brother, sleep well?"
"Yeah. How'd it go?"
As I came down to the first-floor lobby, Jang Ho-seop greeted me.
"Just like we figured. Quite a few came knocking last night."
I nodded at his answer and headed outside.
The road in front of the dormitory was swarming with people.
"No commotion over there. Wait quietly."
"If you don't plan to follow our rules, just go home."
They were survivors from Myungsin Women's University campus, gathered from all over.
Still, it didn't feel like a total marketplace chaos.
My people had scavenged safety fences and blocked off the road.
They were lined up beyond the fences like kids waiting for a ride at an amusement park.
"Yi Hyun."
Soo-jung approached.
The auntie greeted me more politely than usual.
"Breakfast is almost ready."
Inside the safety fence—back gate side.
In the clearing where we'd grilled meat yesterday, people were prepping breakfast.
Fires lit with large pots on top.
Several such setups.
Enough portions even for the gathered crowd.
"Fewer people than expected."
"Yeah. When we counted earlier, it was under a hundred."
I sat at the prepared spot with Jang Ho-seop and eyed the fence line.
Considering the campus size, a huge number must've died.
Of course, these weren't all of them.
"Hard to believe, but looks like the word got around?"
"Yeah. We hit every building for sure. And they probably figured they'd die either way..."
Yesterday, when Jang Ho-seop tormented Building 2 with the meat smell.
A few students came out begging for food.
He gave them a few pieces in exchange for a simple task.
Go through every remaining building on Myungsin Women's University campus and spread the word.
'Come work, and we'll provide meals and washing facilities.'
That was our message to them.
The Building 2 students who'd run Jang Ho-seop's errand were lined up outside the fence too.
"There's still some folks holed up in Building 2, right? You know that?"
"Yep. They must have some tight-knit thing going."
"I get that, but... isn't coming to work the right call anyway?"
"Maybe they still have the luxury of pride."
Soon, breakfast was ready.
I ate while chatting with the group.
Village residents and Building 1 students took turns eating.
They were the ones handling crowd control right now.
"The Building 1 students are fully committed."
"Really?"
"Yeah. They joined the training session voluntarily yesterday."
Quicker on the uptake than expected.
According to Soo-jung auntie, it was thanks to Ki Eun-chae's influence.
"Then give the Building 1 students a bit more authority. Crowd control, surveillance... delegate those duties."
Today's tasks: commercial district farming and Independence Hall cleanup.
Of course, we needed to leave people here to guard our supplies.
My main group and village residents knew their roles.
We could offload external duties to the Building 1 students.
"Oh, and assign the unawakened ones from Building 1 to me."
"Got it. I'll do that."
"And you know? Give 'em just enough. Not full bellies. Not even after work."
I reminded the group once more.
We weren't helping them out of the goodness of our hearts.
We were giving them a chance.
"Yes. We're keeping that in mind. Educating the others too."
With that, I finished eating and stood.
Today, I was heading out to farm the commercial district again.
I'd asked for the unawakened students in case we ran into monsters—to feed them some EXP.
I sat in the shade, watching people haul supplies.
They were moving stuff from inside the mart out to the road.
Simple labor, but everyone's efficiency varied.
Some hauled huge loads in one go.
Others took smaller bits back and forth multiple times.
'That one's slippery.'
What I was watching for was attitude.
Even in tough spots, some worked hard.
Might be diligence, or awareness of being watched.
Didn't matter.
Sharp ones were fine too.
But slacking to just get by after taking our food? No.
'It was obviously not enough, but...'
We'd fed breakfast to everyone who showed up for work.
Not the same as ours—thin rice porridge.
The kind nicknamed "honey gruel" or whatever.
Probably didn't fill them up.
But that was their lot.
'No complaints, follow orders, work hard.'
We'd laid out the rules upfront.
And they'd all agreed.
"Yi Hyun. This area's done. What now?"
"Head back."
Seol-hee had come with me today.
Even with the baby constantly being separated, she never complained.
She knew.
The world wasn't the same, and there were things she had to endure.
'If only these people would accept that.'
Some folks accepted it quickly.
I was weeding them out.
"No monsters at all."
Seol-hee spoke cautiously as she walked beside me.
"Yeah. Kinda disappointing."
I'd hoped to feed EXP to the Building 1 students.
Not even any monsters wandering in from outside.
"Um... Am I doing a bad job?"
"No, you're fine. You have a different role, Seol-hee."
Seol-hee was pulling her weight with just her Fundamental Skill.
Plus, she took great care of my daily comforts.
That was my take, but apparently not hers.
She seemed burdened, especially since we'd taken in her baby too.
"You're so considerate... but I feel like I'm falling short. Sorry."
Crowd control and subtle pressure were handled by village residents.
Building 1 students helped a bit.
Seol-hee's job was overseeing it all.
My core group must've explained it to her.
But she felt useless and was apologizing.
"That mindset is enough."
If I had to categorize my people into three groups...
First, my inner circle.
Jang Ho-seop and his mom, Yu-na and her daughter, Bom-i noona.
Second, the village recruits.
Third, the undergrads from Twin Dorm Building 1.
Call it ranks.
Or classifications by how close I feel to them.
Seol-hee was in a gray area.
I'd placed her inside my inner circle's fence.
"And if these external duties feel like a burden, just say so."
"Oh, no! Not at all. I need to do my part."
Everyone has their strengths.
I meant it—she was doing plenty well.
The reason I kept her close was to make her position clear to everyone.
"Got it. If I feel you're short, I'll tell you first."
"Ah... Yes. Thank you."
Gratitude swelled from Seol-hee.
She knew my promise to speak up first was consideration.
She'd seen and heard enough.
I said nothing more and returned to the dormitory.
We made three round trips between the back gate and commercial district.
The people were drenched in sweat and exhausted.
After unloading supplies in the back gate clearing...
I led them to the makeshift showers we'd set up.
The members left at the dormitory had pitched a large tent near Eunhyeon Stream.
"Head inside."
We separated men and women and herded them into the tents.
Inside were large water tanks and a few basins.
Equal water rations for everyone.
If used sparingly, enough to wash their hair too.
Naturally, it was water from Eunhyeon Stream—no bathing directly in the river.
"Strip down. Put clothes and belongings in your personal basket."
As expected, far more women.
I waited outside the tent with Seol-hee.
Right now, even the Myungsin Women's University survivors were showering inside.
Including Building 1 students.
Village residents would inspect their belongings.
"Um, I'm fine. Maybe next time..."
Sure enough, someone refused the shower.