Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Survival on a Deserted Island Day 1: Between Dawn and Morning, Shin Myeong-ho Said to Leave It Alone for 40 Minutes Straight
Rustle… rustle…
The sound of sand being dragged closer and closer.
I opened my eyes and, at the same time, held my breath and tightened my grip on the blade.
If it’s a wild boar, there’s no way I can take it in this condition. I’ll have to climb a tree or swing the fire at it.
What emerged under the pale moonlight was a massive sea turtle slowly crawling forward, carrying a heavy shell.
“…Ha.”
A hollow laugh escaped me as the tension left my body.
So even God is helping my revenge now.
Does this thing even bite people?
The turtle stopped when I stood up and looked at it.
It didn’t seem like it came here to breathe. Probably here to lay eggs.
“Hmmm…”
I had heard somewhere that they were a protected species, but what does the law even matter in a situation like this?
So today’s meal is turtle meat?
I swallowed hard.
To me right now, it wasn’t an animal. It was a walking survival package.
That shell alone could feed me for days, and it could even be used as a cooking pot.
This was something I had to kill.
Be reborn as a human next time.
I staggered behind it.
The turtle sensed danger and pulled its head into its shell, but that was useless against a human.
I instinctively aimed for the soft joint between shell and body.
Thud.
The blade sank deep.
Blood soaked my hand.
This is the right thing to do.
In my mind, I had already stabbed that weak point dozens of times.
But for some reason, my feet wouldn’t move forward.
“…It feels wrong to kill something that came to lay eggs.”
Maybe it was because I was an orphan who had lost my parents early.
Watching a creature struggle to bring its offspring into the world gave me a strange sense of sympathy.
I let out a small laugh.
“Man, you’ve got it rough too. Why’d you crawl all the way here at this hour?”
I sat down awkwardly with the blade still in hand.
I decided to just watch for now.
After it finished laying eggs, I would apologize and take it for survival purposes.
The eggs… well, they’d hatch on their own.
While I was watching it calmly dig into the sand—
Flap!
“Wait, huh?!”
It should have taken a long time to finish laying eggs, but I was wrong.
The turtle suddenly kicked sand everywhere and bolted toward the sea like it had made up its mind.
“Hey! You bastard! The eggs! You didn’t even finish laying them!”
Before I could react, it slid across the sand and reached the waves.
“Bring back fish at least!”
Splash.
The moment seawater engulfed it, the turtle disappeared into the depths without hesitation.
All that remained was the half-dug hole in the sand and the sound of waves mocking me.
I sighed.
“…So much for turtle loyalty.”
I felt empty.
I was the idiot for getting sentimental.
It wasn’t a companion.
It was just running for its life from a predator.
“Dawn’s breaking.”
My mouth was dry.
I lost the turtle, but I snapped back to reality.
If you don’t eat, you die. If you can’t kill, you get eaten.
That’s the logic of a deserted island.
I raised my blade again and stared at the brightening horizon.
Now I really had to start scavenging.
Survival would normally be the first priority for anyone stranded here.
But for me, that was a luxury.
I was supposed to be dead inside a drum barrel already.
Whether this was divine mockery or mercy, I was alive here now.
I would survive with whatever I could find, then hunt down those bastards hiding somewhere on this island.
And if they weren’t here, I’d escape and kill them anyway.
The horizon slowly turned dark red.
As the darkness lifted, the sea revealed itself in calm beauty.
Watching it blankly, a bitter thought rose inside me.
“…It’s damn beautiful.”
The wind slipped through my lips as I stood there, half-lost in thought.
I was twenty-six years old.
Ten of those years were spent serving the organization.
While others studied, dated, and lived normal lives, I spent my days stabbing blades into people and taking the blame for crimes I didn’t commit.
To me, the organization was family, faith, everything.
I had no parents, so I ran from school and survived in back alleys.
People with money were everywhere there, and I fed myself through them.
When things went bad, I ran fast and stayed quiet like a rat.
That was when I was sixteen.
Choi Do-hoon found me.
…Actually, this kind of memory can wait until I stab him later.
Because all that loyalty led to this.
“Ten years of hard work, worse than a sandcastle.”
A hollow laugh escaped me.
Betrayed, discarded, and brought to the edge of death.
What a pathetic life.
So inefficient.
I grabbed my aching side and steadied myself.
Then I noticed something.
Something had appeared on the beach dozens of meters away, at the edge where waves came and went.
Too smooth to be a rock.
Too structured to be seaweed.
I narrowed my eyes.
A bag.
A fairly large tactical backpack.
“Oh… oh?!”
A wave suddenly surged and nudged it.
It looked like it could be swept back into the sea at any second.
If it goes, it’s over.
Whatever’s inside it is more valuable than gold in my situation.
“No way! You bastard! Stay there!”
I threw myself forward, rolling across the sand.
My survival instinct finally kicked in again.
If I don’t seize opportunity, I die.
Splash.
Another wave hit the bag.
It began drifting back toward the sea.
“Hey you piece of shit! I said stay there!”
I roared like a madman and sprinted into the surf.
Cold seawater soaked my body.
I reached out desperately.
The moment my fingers touched rough nylon—
I grabbed it.
“I’ve got it…”
Saltwater filled my mouth, but I wrapped the strap around my wrist and pulled it close.
I dragged the bag back onto the sand, breathing heavily.
“Shin Myeong-ho said leave it alone for 40 minutes straight, but I said leave the bag alone!”
I shouted at the sea.
I hadn’t even checked inside yet, but the weight alone gave me hope.
“Please… tools, canned food, anything…”
My hands trembled as I pulled the zipper.
Screeeech.
The bag opened.
And the moment I saw what was inside, I froze.
“…Wow.”
A satisfied smile spread across my face.
I think, therefore God exists.
God definitely exists today.
It was a Korean survival bag.
First thing I saw was three bags of inflated potato chips.
Probably 80 percent air, but I didn’t care.
Next, two chocolate bars.
This is real happiness.
People lying in bed eating snacks wouldn’t understand this feeling.
And most importantly, two one-liter bottles of water.
Just looking at the clear liquid made my dry throat ache.
“God, thank you! But maybe you could’ve helped a bit earlier, you damn bastard!”
At the very corner, I found the real jackpot.
Wrapped cigarettes, a lighter, and a large pack of wet wipes.
“…So this guy had taste.”
This was definitely someone from the organization.
A survival backpack like this doesn’t just end up on a deserted island.
They must have been on the ship, waiting in the cabin before everything flipped.
Snacks and cigarettes, all packed in for boredom.
And now it all washed up here.
Serves them right.
“Heh heh…”
The smile wouldn’t leave my face.
I gently patted the bag like I was comforting it.
“This is what you call divine blessing.”
Just as I was about to open the water bottle—
Rustle.
From behind me, deep in the forest, something moved.