Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: The Most Frightening Monster is Fear
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"Was it really okay to kick him out like that?"
Hye-na asked with a slightly anxious look on her face.
We had finished talking with Kim Min-su and were resting outside.
'Then we won't get any food.'
'We'll handle that ourselves.'
'Well, no helping it. If you change your mind, just let me know.'
'Got it. Though I doubt that will happen.'
We had clearly drawn the line on Kim Min-su's recruitment offer.
We had no intention of teaming up with them.
"No, it's better not to join hands with a guy like that."
Yoo-ri replied, sitting cross-legged on the ground.
She was in the middle of polishing her sword.
To me, it was just a demon sword that stole people's lives.
But Yoo-ri seemed quite attached to it.
"I've never seen a decent guy who talks about groups in a situation like this."
"Hmm, is that so?"
"Sure, there are people who genuinely want to protect the weak. But they lead from the front more than anyone else. That guy's not the righteous type."
I thought the same.
Not because I had some grand conviction like Yoo-ri.
My long experience with web novels told me so.
'Guys like that usually get written out by chapter 5. It's the rule.'
Even if they luckily survived,
they'd end up buried without a trace in the later parts.
Can't have them getting the same treatment from readers.
A seasoned survivor knows where to attach themselves.
"Anyway, let's ignore them and do what we need to do."
Fortunately, our reincarnator seemed to think the same.
".......More importantly, Yoo-ri, your panties are showing."
"Huh?"
At my pointing out, Yoo-ri glanced down.
She looked back and forth between me and her skirt, then suddenly pressed down on the hem.
".......Pervert."
Wow, and she's saying that to me?
"Hey! Why should I have to point that out in the first place! If you're a girl, handle that yourself!"
"W-well, I can't help it! I've never been treated like a girl before!"
"C-come on, both of you calm down."
Hye-na mediated between us as casually as ever now. I wasn't even surprised anymore.
Yoo-ri and I had started bickering frequently before we knew it.
Of course, it was proof of how close we'd gotten.
If this had happened before chapter 25, I'd already be sliced by that sword.
"Anyway, since we'll be staying here for a while, let's scout around and get a sense of the situation. We need info for that at least."
Both of them nodded at my words.
We circled the zone again, but the people still looked drained.
"No monsters around, but everyone seems exhausted."
"It's because they have no purpose."
Hye-na tilted her head at my words.
"Purpose?"
"Staying safe inside the zone leaves them with nothing to do. And no one knows when this will end."
We knew the approximate end date thanks to Yoo-ri.
But the quest didn't mention any time limit.
"If monsters were right in front of them, they'd hustle to survive. But that's not the case. And with food running short, it's a bleak situation. They're wasting away bit by bit."
"Ah, I see. Having nothing to do is turning into poison."
Being trapped somewhere eats away at people's minds more than you'd think.
This group probably wouldn't last much longer, whenever that end comes.
"Um, oppa."
Suddenly, some woman approached.
She was dressed in revealing, sensual clothes.
She reached out, grabbed my wrist, and subtly exposed her chest area.
I could see pink underwear peeking through her clothes.
"Got a lot of coins? I take food too. Wanna do it once..."
But her words didn't finish.
Because Yoo-ri beside me silently exuded killing intent.
"S-sorry to bother you......"
The woman glanced around nervously and backed off.
Then she went over to another guy behind us and started talking to him.
They soon linked arms and headed to a secluded spot.
"......This world is really awful."
Hye-na muttered with a complicated expression after watching.
It must still be quite shocking for her.
Yoo-ri shrugged lightly.
"Well, our world had plenty like that too. I got hit on a lot. Rejected them all, though."
".......By women?"
"Women, men, both."
This was some shocking info.
"Men had demand too?"
"No idea, but there were plenty of rich, lonely housewives."
Yoo-ri stared at my face and smirked.
"Someone like you might've considered a one-night stand."
"Oh, thanks a lot."
"Hey! Both of you, enough with that talk!"
Hye-na's face flushed red as she listened from the side.
That was when we were walking along, chatting idly.
"We're now recruiting people to scout the fog! Anyone who can fight, step up! We'll provide weapons too!"
The ruler of this safe zone,
Kim Min-su shouted toward the people with his underlings.
But everyone just watched warily.
No one stepped forward readily.
'Scouting...... They do that too?'
I asked a quiet guy nearby.
"What's that about right now?"
"Huh? Picking people to go into the fog. First time seeing it? No way."
"Ah, we just arrived here today."
"What? You came through that fog? Impressive folks."
The man was slightly impressed and pointed with his chin.
"Just what it says—go into the fog, investigate stuff, come back. Check if there's a way out of here, hunt monsters for coins sometimes."
"Oh? Any harvests?"
"None."
The man shook his head side to side.
"Fog everywhere you go—what harvest? Half die to monsters on the way back."
"Then why would people go?"
"Otherwise, no food rations."
The man smiled bitterly.
"You buy food with coins here. Not many have coins. What little they have runs out fast."
"Hmm."
"I still have some leeway. But soon, no choice but to head into the fog."
So he's forcing them into the fog under the pretext of food.
But if they do that—
"Hey, I'm still a student—can I go?"
"Even if you're a woman......"
"Haha, of course. We don't discriminate."
In the end, the powerless weak die first.
They wouldn't have coins anyway.
Sure enough,
most raising hands were gaunt and weary.
They couldn't endure the hunger anymore.
People who had to risk their lives for food.
"Yoo-ri, do you think those people can go out and survive?"
"What do you think?"
"I doubt it."
"Same here."
The bugs in the fog aren't that strong.
Compared to the monsters we've fought, anyway.
They could manage if they just repelled them.
But moving through thick fog?
'Unless they have detection skills like Yoo-ri. Normally, they'd fall to ambushes.'
Not enough experienced fighters as is,
yet taking people who can't even swing a sword properly.
His intentions were obvious.
'Using them as bait.'
While the weak sacrifice themselves to monsters,
they reduce damage safely and hunt them.
No need to give food to the dead.
And Kim Min-su's group monopolizes coins to grow stronger.
Classic structure of the strong exploiting the weak.
"Idiots. Proper training would raise survival rates."
"You think they'd do that? Armed weaklings might threaten their positions."
Kim Min-su pretends to care for survivors,
but deep down, he wants the weak in constant despair more than anyone.
Easier to exploit that way.
That's not ruling people.
They're 'consuming' them.
As I thought that, Kim Min-su spotted me and approached.
"Lee Ji-hoon, how about joining the scouting at least? You still need food."
"I refuse."
"Sigh, still prickly. Well, no choice. Recruitment ends here."
More people gathered than expected.
Probably that many desperate folks.
Though how many would survive was another question.
"Ugh, scouting means going to those mosquitoes. Horrifying."
"Hye-na really hates mosquitoes, huh."
"Yeah, hate them. Already did, but now even more."
Seemed the bugs we saw piercing the fog had traumatized her.
Enough to shudder like that.
"Anyway, if you're short on coins, go out early. Better odds when you're still fit."
The man explaining to us stood up.
"Though no guarantee you'll survive. Fog and monsters just like in the movies. What a world."
"Pardon? What do you mean?"
"Huh? You kids don't know that movie? The Mist—exactly like now."
"I know it."
But 'exact same monsters' as the movie?
We traveled far and only saw giant mosquitoes.
"The four-legged ones swinging tentacles, huge monsters—just like those."
".......Not sure."
"What! You didn't see them? Insanely lucky. I only glimpsed silhouettes through the fog myself."
The man kept muttering about luck as he left.
I watched his back, deep in thought.
'We pierced the fog ourselves and saw no such monsters. But safe zone folks did.'
Just luck?
We killed over 20 mosquitoes coming here.
"Yoo-ri."
"Yeah? Why the sudden serious face?"
I looked straight at Yoo-ri and said,
"In your world, only bug monsters came from the fog? No zombies or others?"
Yoo-ri thought for a moment before answering.
"Hmm, now that you mention it, yeah. Never went elsewhere, though."
"Who first spotted the bug monsters?"
"No idea."
Yoo-ri shrugged lightly.
"Heard they were already dead."
"So you fought with no info at first?"
"Nah. Rumors of bug monsters were already spreading in our village. Wasn't hard to prepare."
"......"
I opened the quest window.
Could the monsters in the fog be...
Name: Mist (MIST)
Type: 1st Main Quest
Difficulty: D
Description:
📍 Brutal monsters continuously appear in fog-shrouded spaces.
📍 Fog occurs in all areas except safe zones.
📍 Avoid the fog, secure a safe zone, and survive against the monsters.
'No way the fog itself is...?'
I couldn't help but chuckle.
This author's got a real sinister personality.
If he hadn't written apocalypse stuff, I might've viewed him kinder.