Shadows in the 4th District
“Which way is the 4th District?”
“Hmm. That way…”
Jo Yun-jeong glanced around before pointing down the long road past the corner.
“If you keep going straight, you’ll see a residential area with houses and villas. There’s a school too. That whole neighborhood is the 4th District.”
“I see.”
Kang Tae-sung turned away without another word. The motion felt so natural that Jo Yun-jeong didn’t even feel slighted. She wandered the area a little longer, collecting any arrows the others had missed, then headed back to the lodging.
4th District.
As Kang Tae-sung stepped into the area, he felt a strange sense of dissonance. The air was the same, yet the atmosphere was completely different. It didn’t take him long to understand why.
No patrol forces.
In other districts—especially those closer to the city center—groups of two or three people patrolled the streets, clearly acting as security. Here, the only people he saw were ordinary civilians who looked completely unarmed. Most were elderly, children, or the weak.
Young women were noticeably scarce.
Every single person who noticed him reacted with obvious wariness. It wasn’t outright hostility so much as fear and avoidance. It felt different from simple dislike of strangers, so Tae-sung didn’t approach anyone. He simply followed the signs and made his way toward the address he’d found.
The place turned out to be a half-collapsed apartment building and the surrounding cluster of villas. Further out, where redevelopment had clearly stalled, stood rows of shacks packed tightly together. Their roofs had mostly caved in, and it looked like no one lived there anymore.
“Number 21… doesn’t exist.”
Based on the road name, Tae-sung had come to the right area, but the addresses only went up to 20. The 21st address listed for his youngest sibling simply wasn’t there.
Wondering if it was a clerical error, he wandered the nearby streets, glancing at similar numbers. Before long, he arrived at the school that was supposedly in the 4th District.
Even from a distance, the place was lively. Children ranging from elementary to middle-school age were scattered across the grounds, playing with balls in their respective groups. Classes seemed to be in session inside the school building as well. He couldn’t tell what subject was being taught, but the fact that the children were still receiving an education struck him as a good sign.
“May I ask what brings you here?”
While Tae-sung was circling the school fence, a voice called out. He turned to see an elderly man in a security guard uniform watching him with clear suspicion.
“I have a question.”
Tae-sung stayed where he was. The distance was close enough for conversation, and his choice not to approach seemed to ease the old man’s tension. The guard’s wary expression softened slightly.
“I came looking for a family member’s address, but the place doesn’t exist.”
“An address… I’m not sure if I’d know it.”
“It was 21, Mirinae 5-gil, 4th District.”
The old man tilted his head, but his reaction came a beat too late. Sensing that he knew something, Tae-sung took a step closer. The guard quickly raised both hands.
“If it’s Mirinae 5-gil, there’s someone who would know better than me. Could you wait here for a moment?”
“I’ll wait.”
Tae-sung looked down at his own outfit, wondering why everyone was so on edge. The combat uniform with his name on it was obvious, but the pants underneath were the rough leather ones he’d worn in the otherworld.
Well, it’s not like I know how soldiers dress these days anyway.
If supplies were bad, people might be forced to mix and match like this.
After waiting a while, he heard footsteps approaching from the school. Several people were coming his way. The old guard was leading them. Beside him walked a fairly young woman, and behind her followed two men who looked to be in their late twenties.
……
They seemed frightened. At a glance, it was obvious the woman was the one who would answer his question. The two men behind her looked like they were there to protect her.
Two sturdy men should be enough.
That was probably what they were thinking.
But as the woman drew closer, she suddenly stopped. She stared at Tae-sung’s face with an expression of disbelief, then hurried forward, closing the distance faster than before.
“Tae-sung oppa?”
“……?”
Tae-sung glanced down at his chest. If someone had good eyesight, they could read his name from that distance, but something told him that wasn’t how she’d recognized him.
“It’s me. Kang In-hye. We used to live a few houses down.”
“Kang In-hae?”
“Hye, not hae!”
The childish joke slipped out on reflex. In-hye burst into a bright smile and ran up to playfully smack his arm.
Seeing her smiling face up close finally brought back the memory of the little girl from next door. She hadn’t been that young even back then, but it was still surprising how much she’d grown.
Well, it has been five years.
“Where have you been all this time? Do you know how hard your family looked for you?”
“Something came up. Do you know where my family is?”
When he explained that he’d found his youngest sibling’s address at headquarters only for it not to exist, In-hye nodded as if she understood exactly what had happened.
“Come inside first. I should’ve brought him with me if I knew this would happen.”
“Who?”
“Who else? Your little brother.”
“Yeon-sung?”
“Yeah. He should be up by now. It’s about time he starts work.”
Tae-sung’s expression brightened at the unexpected news. If he met his youngest brother in person, he would finally understand why only the youngest appeared in the database while the rest of the family didn’t.
“Where’d you go instead of sleeping? Go wash up. I got scolded for bringing back this much. If you’re thirsty, pour some and drink.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
When Jo Yun-jeong returned to the lodging, Kim Myeong-hui—who looked like she’d been about to sleep—pointed at the two 2-liter water bottles she’d brought. One was already half empty, probably used by Myeong-hui while washing up earlier.
Water was precious, so every morning there was a silent war over the purified water. Bringing back four liters by herself was bound to draw attention.
Yun-jeong poured a little water into the plastic washbasin beside her and dipped her small hands into it, then paused.
……
She hadn’t noticed before, but now that her hands were in the water, her right hand stung faintly. When she rubbed her fingers together, a small scab came loose and a bit of blood seeped into the water.
“Ah…”
She must have hurt herself handling the tough bowstring barehanded. It wasn’t a serious wound, but the sight of blood in the water still made her reluctant to wash with it. She quickly scooped up small amounts of water with cat-like motions and wiped her face before the blood could spread.
At least she could clean her hands, face, and neck. That was something.
“There was a rift.”
While washing, Yun-jeong spoke. Kim Myeong-hui lay on the cot with her eyes closed, but Yun-jeong knew she was still awake and listening.
“How many died?”
“I didn’t see it clearly, but… I think about five people were carried away.”
“Fewer than expected.”
Myeong-hui scratched her head roughly, then opened her eyes.
“Actually, it seems like fewer than last time… How many came out?”
“The ones covered in those scales you mentioned…”
“Right. Those. How many?”
“Three came out.”
“One more than before. They really are increasing.”
Yun-jeong had only become Myeong-hui’s assistant after the previous rift, so she’d only heard about that incident secondhand. She did know that two large monsters had appeared in the most recent rift, and one in the one before that.
Of course, before that, different kinds of monsters had come out—smaller and relatively less dangerous ones. It seemed reasonable to assume that as time passed, the monsters spilling out of rifts were getting stronger and more numerous.
“Probably because no one’s ever cleared one.”
Everyone had the same thought, yet no one entered the rifts except a few maladjusted people who no longer cared about living.
“Why’d you go there anyway? It’s just a waste of time. You wouldn’t even get experience points.”
If she hadn’t been exhausted from the night shift, she might have gone to watch out of curiosity. But even if it was just a stall tactic, it was clearly dangerous enough to kill people.
She’d only come back to the room under the excuse of taking a nap because she had no desire to take unnecessary risks. Yet her reckless assistant had gone alone.
“He was there.”
“Who?”
“Kang Tae-sung.”
“Ah. That guy. Why’d he go there?”
Myeong-hui had been wondering if that man might have done something. She listened as her assistant recounted the situation, then shook her head.
“With that much power, he could’ve killed it. That guy.”
She’d seen with her own eyes during the last incident just how tough the monster’s body was. Even when several strong hunters swung a metal utility pole together, it had only staggered slightly. The spot that was hit hadn’t broken or anything.
And yet its leg broke? Once could be a coincidence, but twice was not.
“It seemed like he didn’t want to stand out.”
……
If he didn’t want attention, he shouldn’t have gotten involved in the first place.
The thought crossed Myeong-hui’s mind. She glanced at her assistant.
Did he help on purpose?
But she shook her head again.
“Still, with that guy, it won’t be long before he gets noticed. He said he was looking for his family…”
If he had family, he would try to protect them. Protecting someone inevitably meant fighting monsters—whether to keep them safe or to earn money to support them.
“Aggro values don’t exist for nothing.”
And the more monsters he hunted that way, the higher his aggro would rise. More and more monsters would come after him, drawn like they’d caught the scent of prey.
============== Author’s Note ==============
Next time…