Kang Su-chul (1)
The family reunion unfolding before Jeron's eyes was no mere melodrama.
This was a ruined Earth.
A place where resources had run dry and monsters hunting for survivors lurked at every turn.
In a world like this, a family reuniting after being separated for over five years carried a resonance deeper than any masterpiece of cinema.
"Yu... Yu-jung? Is that you?"
"Dad...?"
They both seemed unable to accept the reality of their meeting.
Bursting into tears the moment they laid eyes on each other was the stuff of dramas. In reality, their throats were so tight with emotion that no words could escape.
Jeron felt a strange sensation, a tremor shaking the deepest recesses of his soul.
He, too, wished he could see the faces of his long-dead family just one more time.
But his reality had been brutally torn away.
Jeron pulled out a photograph to look at the faces of his family who had perished on Earth.
No matter how much you loved someone, their face was bound to fade from memory as the years slipped by.
A sharp shriek shattered the poignant silence of the moment.
—Screeech!
The cry of a mutant carried over the wind.
The survivors who remained on this Earth had not made it this far out of mere luck.
They had survived because they were more cautious than anyone else.
They either had to be born with naturally resilient bodies, master essential survival skills, or, most importantly, avoid exposing themselves to the mutants in the first place.
"It's not safe here. Let's head to the shelter."
"Okay, Dad."
Mr. Kang cast a brief glance at Jeron's face.
"I don't know who you are, but thank you."
That was all.
Given Mr. Kang's deeply reserved nature, offering even this much of an greeting to a stranger upon their first meeting showed just how profoundly grateful he was to Jeron.
They were right in the middle of the industrial zone.
They moved quickly, cutting through the biting wind.
Mr. Kang took the lead, wielding a heavy-looking mechanical crossbow.
Though his body was emaciated from long years of hunger, his movements were incredibly agile. Jeron and Kang Yu-jung followed close on his heels.
Industrial Zone, Sector A.
This street was a dense cluster of agricultural tool shops, blacksmith workshops, and machinery depots.
Jeron had wondered how Mr. Kang had managed to survive all this time, and it seemed he had been scavenging this area to craft weapons and traps.
The streets were littered with countless ankle-breaker traps.
They looked far sturdier than the ones Kang Yu-jung had designed. He hadn't just increased their cutting power; he had added serrated teeth to the traps and reinforced them with high-strength steel wire.
Step on one of those, and your ankle would be severed without a trace.
Entering the narrow alleys required even greater vigilance.
At the end of one alley stood a massive ballista, looking absolutely lethal.
It was made of steel, not wood. The oversized harpoon loaded onto it looked positively imposing.
But the traps didn't end there.
The alley was strung with taut tripwires. One wrong step, and a barrage of traps would be triggered.
"Be careful from here on out. Step only where I step."
"Okay, Dad!"
Mr. Kang didn't give Jeron any separate instructions.
While he kindly pointed out exactly where to step for his daughter, he didn't even spare Jeron a glance. He merely spoke loud enough for Jeron to overhear.
This place is a literal minefield.
The wind howling between the buildings slapped his face, yet sweat beaded on his forehead.
Navigating the traps was far more nerve-wracking than facing mutants.
The entrances to the shops in this area were all welded shut. Every single window was the same.
The end of the alley was a dead end—a perfect last line of defense.
The moment an intruder stepped in, they would be blown to pieces by the array of traps.
Since encounters with other survivors in this godforsaken world were extremely dangerous, Mr. Kang had taken his own extreme precautions.
To the left of the alley's end was a heavy steel door.
Before opening it, Mr. Kang paused and looked at Kang Yu-jung.
"Is this young man trustworthy?"
"Yes, completely."
"Alright."
Jeron's prediction had been correct.
Without Kang Yu-jung's help, it would have been nearly impossible to approach Mr. Kang even if they had located him.
They would have been lucky not to end up with a bolt through the head the moment they met.
The survivors of Earth grew sharper and more hostile as time went on.
Perhaps Mr. Kang hadn't been this closed off years ago, but his distrust of humanity had deepened in tandem with his years of survival.
The group passed through the steel door.
The interior of the steel door seemed to have been a blacksmith's warehouse.
Various equipment and raw materials were piled high.
Mechanical crossbows and cold weapons hung on the walls, alongside various traps.
The most impressive part was the workshop where these tools were forged.
It was equipped with an oxy-acetylene torch, an anvil, hammers, and even a small smelting furnace.
The entrance they had just used was the only way in or out.
The windows were all welded shut, and the inner walls of the warehouse were completely reinforced with iron bars.
It was hardly a fit environment for a human to live in, yet fresh air was circulating through a ventilation shaft.
A few light bulbs fixed to the ceiling cast a warm glow.
In one corner stood a refrigerator that, though currently unplugged, would be highly useful in the summer.
The inside of the warehouse was surprisingly warm.
The entire floor had been fitted with electric heating panels.
Other modern conveniences were visible throughout the space.
It was a sight that made Jeron shake his head in sheer awe.
Jeron's gaze drifted to the sink.
No matter how brilliant an engineer Mr. Kang was, he could not escape the depletion of resources.
Only a few canned goods occupied the small kitchen area.
The workshop was separated from the living quarters, and to one side lay protective gear used for welding, along with a few masks resembling respirators.
Jeron had thought Kang Yu-jung's shelter was impressive, but it paled in comparison to this place.
As soon as they entered the warehouse, Mr. Kang secured the multi-layered locks and put water on the electric kettle.
"You must be starving. I'll make you some food soon."
"No, Dad. I've eaten plenty. Look at me. Do I look like someone who's been starving?"
"You're at the age where you need to eat well. Just give me a moment..."
"Dad, how old do you think I am? Just give me a cup of coffee if you have any. We have a lot to talk about."
"Right, right."
The three of them sat around a table.
"..."
A long silence stretched between them.
Mr. Kang was not a talkative man by nature, and the presence of a stranger kept him on guard.
Even with his daughter's reassurance, it was only natural that he couldn't fully trust Jeron. Life on Earth was a place where you couldn't survive without constantly doubting others.
Jeron caught a glimpse of a handgun tucked against Mr. Kang's hip.
It was a silent warning not to try anything funny.
Jeron let out a soft chuckle at the sight.
"Like father, like daughter."
Mr. Kang frowned and rested his hand lightly over his holster.
His actions were simply the standard etiquette when meeting a strange survivor.
Jeron would have done the exact same thing in his position.
It seemed rude, but it was the rational choice. There was no reason to take offense at it.
Jeron sat back comfortably and sipped his coffee.
After all, the man wasn't going to shoot his own daughter's companion for no reason.
"Is this... Lacas?"
Lacas was a popular brand of sugar-free coffee mix, known for its rich, milky flavor.
A concentrated, savory warmth filled his mouth.
Meanwhile, Kang Yu-jung looked incredibly awkward, unsure of how to explain the situation.
Hadn't she herself thought Jeron was talking nonsense and been extremely wary of him at first?
"Jeron, I think it would be best to take my dad over to the Karen Continent to explain things."
"You want him to go through the same process you did?"
"Pretty much, yeah."
Mr. Kang's brow furrowed deeper.
His expression made it clear he had no idea what nonsense they were spouting.
Jeron looked at least five years younger than Kang Yu-jung, yet she was calling him 'mister' and 'sir'. Mr. Kang began to wonder if his daughter had finally lost her mind.
Jeron finished his coffee and looked at Mr. Kang.
"Mr. Kang, don't be too startled."
Whoosh!
A dimensional portal tore open right before Jeron.
"...!"
Mr. Kang was less dramatic and far more cautious than his daughter had been, but his reaction was fundamentally the same.
"I am someone from another dimension. Let's go together. I'm not a suspicious person."
"Ha... Jeron, really? Opening a dimensional portal and then claiming you're not suspicious doesn't sound very convincing, does it?"
Mr. Kang's pupils dilated in shock.
"Who... who on earth are you?"
"Mr. Kang, I am Han, the man you used to be close with. After I died there, I was reincarnated in another world. Let's cross over and talk about the details. No matter how warm these heating panels are, it's still too cold here."
"Ha! Have I finally lost my mind? I did think it was strange when my daughter suddenly appeared out of nowhere. And now a man claiming to be Han shows up and opens a portal?"
Mr. Kang immediately diagnosed himself as insane.
The situation was simply too bizarre to accept.
Yet, even with those doubts, he could not shake off his daughter's hand.
"Dad, I live in another dimension now. Come with me."
Mr. Kang reluctantly took Kang Yu-jung's hand.
Jeron smiled wryly at the sight.
If it weren't for Yu-jung, this would have been incredibly difficult.
***
Nearly an hour.
That was how long it took Jeron and Kang Yu-jung to convince Mr. Kang.
Just as it had been with Kang Yu-jung, making Mr. Kang believe that Jeron was the reincarnation of Han Jin-soo was a long and arduous process.
And convincing him to live together on the Karen Continent?
It was even harder because Mr. Kang flatly refused to accept the reality of the situation.
The Karen Continent was a relatively safe world, and its resources were incredibly abundant compared to Earth.
To survivors, it was practically heaven.
Yet, Mr. Kang's refusal to believe any of it showed just how deeply rooted his PTSD was.
Because of that, Jeron had to recall many of the conversations they had shared when they first met on Earth.
It was a relentless cycle of persuasion.
With Kang Yu-jung providing support, Mr. Kang finally conceded.
After all, it made no sense for a stranger from another dimension to know such intimate details about their family.
What would have taken five minutes with a normal person took an hour, making Jeron worry that the mental state of Earth's survivors was far more fragile than he had imagined.
Mr. Kang had only held on this long because of the faint hope that his daughter might still be alive.
He was in his early fifties.
He was past the age of believing in miracles easily.
"To think you were really Han. I still can't believe it."
"Neither could I. When I died on Earth, I thought it was the end. But I ended up reincarnated like this."
"If you were reincarnated, then your family must have been reincarnated somewhere as well. So do not grieve too deeply."
Once his suspicions were cleared, Mr. Kang was a warmer man than anyone else.
He offered comfort regarding the very thought Jeron had been holding onto in secret.
Even if souls weren't born in the same era or environment, they would eventually cross paths again if they kept living.
Hearing that brought a small measure of peace to Jeron's heart.
"I heard from Yu-jung about what happened to you in the shelter. How on earth did you survive?"
"It's a long story. The reason I was able to survive until now was thanks to an old man."
"An old man?"
"He didn't just save me in a moment of crisis; he passed down various skills to me. He is both my savior and my mentor. It's thanks to him that I was able to build a setup of this scale."
It was one marvel after another.
Mr. Kang had taken a man trained in traditional engineering as his mentor, learning various survival technologies from him.
Listening to his story, Jeron became certain of one thing.
Mr. Kang's technical skills must have advanced leaps and bounds.