No Free Lunch at Geumho Station
“Kuaaaaagh….”
“Keuueok… kuheoooogh….”
“Drrrr….”
“Keueeeok… kuheoeok….”
The loud, rumbling snores filling my ears made me frown as I pushed myself up from the bedding.
“…Huu.”
Sleep still clung to me; my mind felt hazy and my whole body heavy with lingering fatigue.
“Ugh… those pests….”
With my head still foggy, I turned toward the culprits who had ruined my rest. Jung Heewon, Lee Hyunsung, Lee Gilyoung, and Yoo Sangah lay sprawled across the mattresses spread on the floor, snoring like freight trains.
All four of them, everyone except me, were sawing logs without a care in the world. I let out a long sigh.
Last night, once Jung Heewon and Yoo Sangah finished showering and stepped out of the bathroom, Lee Hyunsung and Lee Gilyoung had taken their turns. Afterward I handed out a set of pajamas to each of my companions still stuck in their tattered clothes, laid mattresses on the floor, and we all turned in for the night.
I never once imagined they would snore that violently. And all four of them without waking even once.
I shot my still-snoring companions a look cold enough to freeze water, sighed again, and headed into the bathroom. After a quick wash of my hair, a splash of water on my face, and brushing my teeth, I stripped out of the pajamas, changed into clothes better suited for moving around outside, opened the door, and walked out to find Kim Dokja, who had spent the entire night alone on the platform.
The moment I stepped out, I saw her sitting on a bench, staring holes through her phone.
“Dokja-ssi.”
“Jinwoo-ssi, good morning. Did you sleep well… looks like you didn’t. Is something wrong?”
I called her name as I approached. At the sound of my voice she slipped the phone into her pants pocket, turned her head toward me, and started to speak—only to freeze for a second when she saw my face. Then her expression shifted into worry.
“……The others must have been really exhausted. They were snoring hard. All four of them.”
“Ah… so that’s why the dark circles are that bad….”
Kim Dokja looked at me with genuine pity.
“How about you, Dokja-ssi? From the looks of it you spent the whole night selling food. Aren’t you tired?”
“I’m fine. This level of fatigue is something I always dealt with at work….”
“Ah……….”
This time I was the one staring at her with sympathy. Just how black of a company was Mino Soft that she could casually claim that kind of exhaustion was normal?
Apparently my pitying gaze made her uncomfortable; she gently averted her eyes.
“Ahem…. So, Dokja-ssi, did you manage to sell a lot of food?”
“……….”
The atmosphere had turned awkward, so I cleared my throat and changed the subject. Kim Dokja stayed silent and only offered a faint smile.
“Don’t tell me you sold everything?”
“Yes.”
“Whoa… that much food actually sold out. By the way, how much did you charge per item? Same as me—fifteen coins each?”
“No. I sold them for fifty coins each.”
“……What?”
I was briefly thrown by the fact that she had sold food for fifty coins a piece, exactly like in the webtoon. Thanks to my skill, the amount of food I’d grabbed from the convenience store was at least one-and-a-half to two times what the original Kim Dokja had taken. And she had sold every last bit of it?
Hearing that she had thoroughly fleeced the people of Geumho Station at fifty coins a pop, I looked at her with pure admiration.
“Haaam….”
“Hello, Heewon-ssi. Did you sleep well last night?”
“Good morning, Heewon-ssi.”
The door opened behind us and Jung Heewon walked out mid-yawn. Dokja and I both greeted her, asking if she had rested properly.
“Good morning, you two. Thanks to Jinwoo-ssi’s skill—whatever it is—and that room of his, I slept like a rock for the first time in ages. Thank you, Jinwoo-ssi.”
“It’s nothing. I didn’t sleep well myself, but I’m glad the rest of you did….”
“Huh? What do you mean… ah. Were we… too loud last night?”
At first Jung Heewon didn’t catch what I was getting at, but the moment her eyes landed on the thick dark circles under mine she realized she and the others were the reason I hadn’t slept. Her face filled with apology.
“For the sake of everyone’s privacy, I’ll take no comment.”
“I-I’m really sorry, Jinwoo-ssi….”
I stared blankly up at the empty air with a hollow expression and repeated “no comment.” Jung Heewon’s cheeks flushed a light pink and she carefully looked away.
Even if we were companions now, she was still a woman. Showing a man she had only just met the full glory of her snoring was apparently enough to make her feel ashamed.
“Ahem! By the way, Dokja-ssi, you were gone all night. Were you here the whole time?”
“Yes. I stayed here selling the food we got from the convenience store to people, together with Jinwoo-ssi.”
“What?”
Jung Heewon’s face went blank with shock. She stared at the empty convenience-store bags lying at Kim Dokja’s feet, then picked one up and shook it hard as if she couldn’t believe it.
“Oh my god—all that food actually sold out?”
“Yes. But it wasn’t only the marginalized group who bought it.”
Still shaking the empty bag, Jung Heewon turned an incredulous look on Kim Dokja.
“W-wait a second! So the mainstream group bought food too? And you just… sold it to them?”
“Exactly.”
“No, then what are we supposed to do?! I told you while we were eating yesterday—right now Geumho Station is sitting in the palm of the mainstream group’s hand. The people here are treated like livestock. They take whatever scraps the mainstream group hands out and get dragged off to the slaughterhouse as scouting parties. Just like I was yesterday morning.”
Jung Heewon glared daggers at Kim Dokja for selling food to the mainstream group. Kim Dokja only gave a bitter smile and held up an open palm in a calm-down gesture.
“Please calm down first, Heewon-ssi. I didn’t sell to the mainstream group without thinking it through.”
“What?”
“At first I sold food to the marginalized group to encourage trade among the people and weaken the mainstream group’s grip. I hoped the marginalized group would rise up on their own.”
“If that was the plan, you shouldn’t have sold anything to the mainstream group! Nothing’s actually changed!”
“You’re right. For the moment, the situation between the two groups hasn’t changed.”
“What do you mean….”
Jung Heewon looked frustrated at Kim Dokja’s calm reply. I was only half-listening to their back-and-forth when a voice called me from behind.
“Jinwoo-ssi, good morning.”
“Ah, Sangah-ssi. Good morning. Did you sleep well?”
“Yes! Thanks to you I slept really well. I’m truly grateful.”
“It’s nothing.”
I turned and found Yoo Sangah standing there with a bright smile. After exchanging greetings she glanced once at the still-arguing Kim Dokja and Jung Heewon, then looked back at me.
“Um, Jinwoo-ssi… did something happen?”
“Well… short version: Dokja-ssi sold food to both the marginalized group and the mainstream group, and Heewon-ssi is demanding to know why she sold to the mainstream group too.”
“Ah….”
Yoo Sangah nodded in understanding and offered an awkward little smile.
“No… what on earth is Dokja-ssi thinking? Jinwoo-ssi, can we even trust this person?”
“Sangah-ssi here will answer that for me.”
“Wh-what? Jinwoo-ssi?!”
Yoo Sangah looked completely flustered at suddenly having the spotlight shoved onto her. Pushing the back of someone who had just walked out of the room—how shameless.
She narrowed her eyes and glared at me for dumping the answer on her, then turned to Jung Heewon with a bright smile.
“I trust Dokja-ssi, Heewon-ssi.”
“…Then what about you, Jinwoo-ssi? Do you trust her too?”
Jung Heewon watched Yoo Sangah’s cheerful declaration, hesitated, and finally turned the same question on me.
“Of course. I sincerely trust Dokja-ssi.”
“Haa…. If both of you say so, I guess I have nothing left to say. Dokja-ssi, I think I got too worked up. I’m really sorry.”
“Huhu, it’s fine. I was the one who didn’t explain properly. I’m the one who should apologize, Heewon-ssi.”
“No, I was more….”
“No, I was….”
“Hey, that’s enough. How about we just eat breakfast?”
I cut into the mutual-apology loop between Jung Heewon and Kim Dokja. Both of them shot me a look for interrupting, but a second later they snorted and nodded.
“But what are we even eating for breakfast? Dokja-ssi, is there any food left for us?”
“No. I sold it all.”
“What?! Then what are we supposed to eat…?”
Jung Heewon’s mouth fell open in pure disbelief. Kim Dokja chuckled and pointed at me with her thumb. Why are you pointing at me?
“We have a merchant NPC right here, Heewon-ssi.”
“Ah, right! There was Jinwoo-ssi!”
“Jinwoo-ssi, what’s for breakfast today?”
The three of them stared at me like baby birds chirping for food from their mother. I gave a helpless laugh, opened the general shop, ordered six simple convenience-store lunch boxes, dragged Lee Hyunsung and Lee Gilyoung—who still hadn’t come out of the room—outside, and the six of us ate breakfast together.
After the meal I collected the cost of the lunch boxes from everyone, received the 1,300 coins Kim Dokja had earned from selling food, and we whiled away the time chatting.
Around lunchtime the mainstream group suddenly announced there was an important statement and gathered every person inside Geumho Station into the center of the platform.
“Inho-ssi, everyone’s here.”
“Understood.”
When Bang Cheolsoo reported from inside the tarp that the crowd had assembled, Cheon Inho pushed the covering aside, stepped out, and began addressing the people.
“Everyone, starting today we will restrict food rations. Distribution will be three biscuit pieces per person.”
“What? Three biscuits?! How the hell are we supposed to live on that?!”
“The scouting party bastards eat way more than the ration amount! You think we don’t know?!”
The crowd in the center of the platform murmured among themselves, then began shouting protests at Cheon Inho.
“You’ve spoken well. That’s correct. The scouting party receives larger rations. So if you want more food, simply apply for the scouting party.”
“Almost nobody who joins the scouting party ever comes back! The only ones who always return are the Cheoldu Group bastards!”
“Are you telling us to go die?!”
Faced with the heated protests, Cheon Inho casually shrugged.
“If you’re dissatisfied, why not go out and obtain food yourselves?”
“Th-that’s….”
The protesters fell silent.
Outside, the poisonous fog still hung thick, and monsters roamed freely. Everyone present knew that stepping out to forage for food was the same as choosing death.
“Ah, of course, even if you don’t join the scouting party there is another way to obtain food. I didn’t want to go this far either, but….”
Cheon Inho trailed off and turned a sly smile toward Kim Dokja.
“This morning, Kim Dokja-ssi over there kindly taught us a useful method.”
A few people looked over at her. Cheon Inho smiled with satisfaction and continued.
“Kim Dokja-ssi is right, everyone. Where in the world is there a free lunch? If you want food, you must prove your own value. Anything we judge to have value, we will exchange for food. That’s only natural. Thank you for teaching us such a fine method, Kim Dokja-ssi.”
The instant he finished, every gaze in the center of the platform locked onto Kim Dokja. Most of them carried open resentment.
From Cheon Inho’s words I could tell that Kim Dokja, who had spent the whole night selling food, had followed the webtoon script exactly. He had gathered everyone here for an easy instigation show. But that guy—knowing I’m standing right here—what the hell is he relying on to act so bold?
“Because of that bastard….”
“Hey. What are you glaring at? Eyes down. You fuckers, I felt a little sorry for waving a gun at you last night so I gave you cheap pork belly, and now you’re repaying kindness with enmity?”
A few suckers who had fallen for Cheon Inho’s instigation started to open their mouths toward Kim Dokja. I stepped in front of her, spat curses, and pulled a Glock 19 from my pocket.
The moment I came forward with the Glock 19 in my right hand, every mouth that had been about to curse her snapped shut.
“Hey. Did you forget I’m holding a gun? Is your IQ lower than a pigeon’s? Even pigeons take more than two days to forget something. How the hell did you forget in one?”
I crossed my arms, stared them down, and let out a deep sigh at their hopeless behavior.
“Really, there’s no helping some people. Bang Cheolsoo, step forward.”
“Uh…?”
Bang Cheolsoo looked at me with cold sweat pouring down his face, eyes darting everywhere in panic.
“N-no…! Why are you suddenly calling me…!”
“Why? Aren’t you the number-one combat power in the mainstream group?”
“Th-that’s true, but what does that have to do with—”
“Ah, fuck. So you’re not coming out?”
“………….”
I spoke roughly, face twisted. Bang Cheolsoo hung his head and limped slowly toward me.
“Cheolsoo-ya, Cheolsoo-ya. What am I supposed to do with you.”
“……….”
I simply raised the Glock 19 and slowly, carefully stroked the muzzle along his cheek. Bang Cheolsoo’s face went deathly pale. No—most of the faces in the center of the platform had gone the same shade of blue.
“Cheolsoo-ya, Cheolsoo-ya? When someone calls you, you answer. Keep ignoring me and I’m going to feel like shit, you know? Huh?”
“Wh-why…?”
“Cheolsoo-ya. Our Cheolsoo’s injuries hurt a lot, right? Hyung will keep it short for our Cheolsoo with the bad leg.”
“Wh-wh-what is it?”
“Manage that snake bastard properly. This is the last time. You understand what I mean?”
There won’t be a second chance, Cheolsoo-ya. Got it? And open those eyes prettily for me. That’s right—so pretty.