Castaway, Day Forty

Day forty of being stranded.

Bonggeut—

A sprout pushed up, sheathed in a clear, jewel-like light. The cherry-tomato seeds Minhyuk had planted in the Safe Zone had, in a single week, become plump green cotyledons. The skills he'd honed on elementary-school performance assessments were finally paying off.

Knew it. I haven't lost my touch.

And that wasn't all.

Shararang—

White flowers had opened along the potato stems, which were shooting up in earnest. Better still, the cucumber vines hung heavy with fruit, each one plump and firm.

Once again, the crops were growing up healthy and fast. Just looking at them pulled a proud, fatherly smile onto his face. It felt, somehow, like the child-rearing was going well.

"Our dependable eldest. You've grown up nicely. I think you're ready for the wider world."

Minhyuk picked the cucumber with a fond hand.

Tok. Tok.

Experience that would become the Safe Zone's flesh and blood. Then again, maybe it was only because so much EXP had already piled up from the last round of farming.

Tiring—!

He hadn't even picked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that many, and the Safe Zone had leveled up. Then, right around the time the cucumbers were nearly all harvested—

Tiring—!

Again.

Reaching level 12 had even thrown in an extra trait. Minhyuk opened his status window at once to see what it was.

Hmm. Isolated Island.

Why do these trait names keep getting weirder...

Oh? And the specs are actually pretty solid.

"No, hold on. Not just solid. This is revolutionary."

Until now, expanding the Safe Zone had only ever meant growing the area he already had—picking north, south, east, or west and stretching outward, the way you enlarge a territory.

But the new trait, Isolated Island, was different.

It didn't enlarge the existing Safe Zone. It let him create a separate, independent one wherever he wanted. A vacation villa, maybe? Or keeping two households?

"This... I'll tuck it away and use it when I actually need it."

Minhyuk closed the status window. A new trait was nice, but first he had to finish what he was doing.

Tok. Tok.

Once every cucumber was harvested, he called Elia over from where she'd been playing with the meerkats and packed the subspace bag until it bulged.

"Elia, you remember what you promised me?"

"Mm-hm. Cucumbers are only for sick people."

"And the rest?"

"Ten each!"

Elia proudly held up all ten fingers. Minhyuk ruffled her hair.

"Aigoo, aren't you clever."

"Mm-hm. But, um, you know..."

Pure curiosity colored her voice.

"Is it really okay to sell this many cucumbers?"

She wasn't wrong—it was more than usual. He'd kept two hundred and fifty cucumbers back and stuffed everything else into the subspace bag.

Two hundred and fifty cucumbers... that's cutting it close for a week's food.

Minhyuk, Elia, Kkureung, and the brothers. For a household that had grown this fast, it was a disappointing amount.

"Boss, what're you gonna eat?"

"It's fine. The boss has his own special method."

"Uuuum... really?"

It didn't matter. A handful of cucumbers was nothing a round of Jungle Reclamation couldn't cover.

"I'm off!"

"Yeah. Go do good."

Minhyuk waved her off and looked around the Safe Zone. Next on the schedule was Jungle Reclamation. But there was something he had to do first.

"Hsss... I need more firepower."

The first Jungle Reclamation had brought back a hundred and twenty-one cucumbers and a haul of cherry tomatoes. A satisfying expedition, to be sure. Not a perfect one.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

I did take that lizard down, but still...

The jungle was a place where colossal monsters lurked. Ten Little Wooden Soldiers were not enough to call it safe. And there was no guarantee something even more dreadful wouldn't come bursting out this time.

If I want to at least not drop dead out in the jungle...

More firepower was the only answer.

Skritch. Skritch.

Minhyuk snatched up his carving knife and set straight to work on the wood.

Ten soldier specimens, finished in a flash.

With those two hundred coins, he summoned ten more Little Wooden Soldiers.

Salute—!

The newcomers snapped off solid, dependable salutes.

"No. Something's still missing."

Minhyuk studied the wooden soldiers for a moment, then spoke.

"That rifle. Mind letting me borrow it for a second?"

Salute—!

Hmm.

At that size, a single log would make twenty of them without breaking a sweat.

Skritch. Skritch.

He set the little wooden soldier's rifle on the ground and threw himself back into crafting.

Skritch. Skritch.

He cut the wood down to a workable size, roughed out the overall shape, then worked in the finer pieces—the barrel, the stock, the trigger—and then—

A wooden rifle, Minhyuk-made, was complete. Maybe his hands were getting better little by little. It hadn't even taken that long.

And it even came with an effect that boosted their firepower.

"Khh— now this is something I can relax about."

Minhyuk handed the rifles he'd made himself out to the Little Wooden Soldiers, now twenty strong.

"All right, men. And you too, Kkureung. Let's move out and find us something to eat!"

Salute—!

"Kkureung—!"

The second Jungle Reclamation.

It had begun.

The Love Church Headquarters—a place overflowing with love, true to its name.

Kang Seongjun, pontiff of the Love Church and master of roughly fifty believers, was scratching his head in open dismay as he watched those same believers prostrated before him, cheering themselves hoarse.

"The Tower God...! He has answered our plea once again...!"

"Aaaah—! Praise Him! Long live the Tower God—! Long live the Pontiff—!"

"The one who can commune with the Tower God! His name is Kang Seongjun! We believe, Pontiff!"

"...?"

Seongjun's expression only grew more troubled.

How did it turn out like this again...?

He had sent Cha Seoyun to buy the Uninhabited Island Cucumbers on his behalf. Last week, she hadn't managed it. Players ahead of her in line had snapped them up dozens at a time. She'd asked whether she should buy them back from the resellers.

Right. They were asking thirty times the price.

What came back was an absurd offer. Even a golden spoon like Kang Seongjun couldn't stomach a number like that.

Money is... tight, is what it is.

Landlord and pontiff—he might hold both titles, but at home he was nothing but the immature youngest. A third-generation chaebol heir who didn't earn a single coin and lived by swiping, swiping, swiping at his mother's card. In short, there was a hard limit on what he could spend.

So instead of buying resale cucumbers at sixty coins apiece, Kang Seongjun made the more reasonable choice. He prayed with the believers. Please, bestow our daily cucumbers upon these pitiful faithful.

It wasn't even a real prayer... I was just face-down on the floor, spacing out.

It had been for show, really. There was nothing else he could do. Only if he did at least this much would the believers keep from letting go of hope.

He was sure that was all it had been...

Just now, Cha Seoyun had gotten the cucumbers. Fifty of them, no less. She hadn't even won the opening rush.

She hadn't reserved anything. So why? Out of all those people, why point at Cha Seoyun and Cha Seoyun alone...?

It was too perfect. Downright eerie. They had barely finished praying together when, as if on cue, the merchant singled her out and handed over fifty cucumbers.

As if the Tower God had truly answered.

What...? Why does it all line up this neatly...? Don't tell me... I actually have some kind of divine power...?

At this point, Kang Seongjun was starting to lose track of who he was. Maybe he had a talent he didn't even know about?

Bang—!

That was when.

"P-Pontiff—!"

The door flew open, and Cha Seoyun came bursting into the Love Church Headquarters, sweat pouring off her. For once, she hadn't pulled her robe up over her head. The moment the believers saw her bare face, they gasped as one.

"S-Sister, your face..."

"Oh my god..."

"Good heavens... T-Tower God..."

Cha Seoyun had said ahead of time that she would eat five cucumbers. Her face had recovered, whole and sound. That beautiful countenance was back. A few red spots still lingered around her mouth, but set against the days when her entire face had melted into something hideous, she might as well have been born again.

Born again enough that she could have stepped straight back into the glamorous life she used to lead, and no one would have found her wanting.

"...Pontiff."

Gulp.

Cha Seoyun swallowed, grim with resolve, knelt before the pulpit, and spoke.

"I... as of today, I'm stepping down as a believer."

"..."

Pontiff Kang Seongjun gave a quiet nod. It was the natural next step, really.

Well, yeah... she must have been crawling out of her skin this whole time.

There had been a time when Cha Seoyun stood shoulder to shoulder with the biggest stars. She must have missed that glittering life more than anyone. He would have felt the same in her place.

Who would want to stay in some gloomy cult when they could stand in front of the public under a storm of camera flashes? Her face was fine now, and lingering here wouldn't earn her a single coin. People who ought to leave, leave.

"Fine. What are you planning to do from here?"

"From now on, I will serve as an apostle of the Love Church."

"Right. Now that you've been saved— huh?"

Seongjun's brow twisted.

"...You'll do what now?"

"I want to become the Love Church's First Apostle and lead our missionary work."

"Why would you want to do that...?"

Seongjun stared at her as if to ask whether she was in her right mind, but Cha Seoyun dropped sincerely to one knee.

"Please permit it, Pontiff! I will dedicate everything I am to the Love Church!"

She meant it more than she ever had.

This... ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is my second life.

When she came down with Mana Core Erosion Syndrome, her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠life was as good as over.

No. It was a life more wretched than death.

Because she had flown higher than anyone, the fall was all the crueler. The mockery and the contempt never stopped. Every night, hallucinated laughter rang in her ears.

So Cha Seoyun had thought, more than once, of ending it. Her mind was already as good as dead.

But then...

At her mother's urging she learned of the Love Church, walked in clutching at straws, and there she met Pontiff Kang Seongjun.

And.

She was saved by the omnipotent Tower God.

Her face had come back, but her heart was nothing like it had been.

I have to repay His grace.

A solemn belief. A faith firmer than anything.

Abandoning the Love Church that had saved her had never once crossed her mind. If anything, a fervor boiled in her to offer this newly gifted life to the Tower God.

To make His greatness known to more people. For the sake of those suffering the same pain she had.

"If I use my fame, we can spread the Love Church quickly. I beg you. Please trust me with this, Pontiff."

"No, you don't have to go that far..."

From Seongjun's side of things, this was a deeply unsettling turn.

This... I ought to shut it down before it gets any bigger...

But he couldn't refuse her so easily.

That keen light of faith glittering in Cha Seoyun's eyes. No... a look bordering on madness, staring straight through him.

If he told her no... there was no telling what a formerly top-flight A-rank Hunter might do to him.

"Well... fine. Cha Seoyun. I grant you the seat of the Love Church's First Apostle."

"...R-right. Well... infinite glory..."

And so, very much against his will, Kang Seongjun had no choice but to allow it.

A few hours later.

Click. Click-click. Click—

Cha Seoyun stood in a press conference hall.

Step. Step. Step.

Ranks replenished, firepower upgraded, Minhyuk's legion marched out.

"All units, fire!"

The effect was nothing short of terrifying.

Pew, brrrrrt—!

The first time he'd seen the wooden soldiers' firepower, hadn't he compared it to a meteor shower? Not anymore. This was no meteor shower. It was a torrential downpour of bullets.

Kwek—kweeehk—!

The lizard crumpled the instant they opened fire. It was not, however, the same lizard as before. Not the Blink Lizard, with its rainbow scales and transparent stealth, but an ordinary lizard about half that size, with no stealth to speak of.

I wanted to see how much stronger we'd gotten...

In the end, the Blink Lizard never showed. A little disappointing, maybe.

Anyway.

"Heh. Men, we fall back!"

Salute—!

This Jungle Reclamation was a success as well. A hundred and forty-five cucumbers and two heaping baskets of cherry tomatoes in hand, he returned to the Safe Zone in triumph.

"Hsss... it's way too hot."

Maybe it was the long march out and back. His whole body felt muggy, and the sweat had left him unpleasantly sticky.

Shaaaaa—

That was when the emerald sea caught his eye.

"I would love a nice cool swim, but..."

Minhyuk shook his head, regretful. Little Wooden Soldiers or not, it was obvious that bullets wouldn't do a thing underwater. There was no telling what lived in a sea that wide. If only there were some way to enjoy the water safely...

"...There is!"

Minhyuk shot upright.

The new trait he'd picked up while harvesting cucumbers. On top of that, he still hadn't assigned the six pyeong—about two hundred and ten square feet—he'd gained when the Safe Zone leveled up. No more, no less. Exactly three pyeong.

If I don't expand the existing Safe Zone, and instead lock down an independent one out on the water...?

Swimming: absolutely on the table.

"...Let's go."

Minhyuk rolled up his pant legs and headed for the sea.

Splish. Splish.

Cool water licked at his ankles. The urge to dive in right this second surged up through him.

Let's see... somewhere with a decent depth, where I can go back and forth safely...

He was still turning it over when it happened.

Bob, bob, bob—

Something was drifting toward him, floating on the water like a buoy. Minhyuk turned his head without thinking.

Flat on its back, a single sea otter drifted serenely this way, a clam clutched precious in its arms, nodding off as it came.

"Ho—hoeeng!?"

The moment their eyes met, it startled, plunged, and flailed.

Splash! Splash!

Hmm...

And what was that supposed to be?