A Long Journey
Even though no one ever admitted it out loud... it seemed like, for a while afterward, they all thought about searching for at least some part of their eldest brother's body.
"I'm sorry."
"No. It's fine since you came back alive."
At the time, the second son, Kang Han-sung, who had already enlisted, volunteered for a unit that fought monsters and planted his stake there.
It wasn't out of any particular reason or sense of duty. Military families received significantly higher priority for government-distributed daily necessities and food supplies.
Moreover, the quick-witted second son seemed to have guessed early on that there would be a promising future in that field.
"So the family is staying near the unit where our eldest brother was stationed. They have family lodging there."
"Why didn't you go with them?"
"Just in case our eldest brother might return. I thought someone needed to stay behind and wait."
"You're being foolish."
Kang Tae-sung said bluntly that in emergencies, one must stay with family no matter what.
Kang Yeon-sung, who had been pouting slightly, soon broke into a grin, as if the scolding from his big brother—something he hadn't heard in a long time—didn't bother him at all.
"Anyway, the family is worried. They say the distribution situation is getting worse and worse."
"Weren't they assigned to Seoul?"
Kang Tae-sung, who had heard that the capital could achieve food self-sufficiency and even secure some surplus, watched his younger brother shake his head.
"Not Seoul... I guess you'd call it the Gyeonggi area. The terrain there has changed so much that I'm not even sure what to call it exactly. Anyway, they said it's closer to Chungcheong Province than to Seoul."
He remembered them discussing that when the family was being relocated.
Of course, there had been no contact since then, so he had no updates. But rumors that distribution conditions were deteriorating outside Seoul were what had him worried about the family.
"The internet is back up, I hear."
"Oh, really?"
Surprised by Kang Tae-sung's words, Kang Yeon-sung thought for a moment, then told him to wait and hurriedly ran off somewhere.
Having only one eye must have robbed him of depth perception and made things inconvenient, yet the boy seemed so familiar with the local terrain that he didn't trip or stumble once on the jagged, broken pavement blocks.
Kang Tae-sung watched his retreating figure like a parent observing a child taking their first steps. A short while later, the youngest returned with an excited face, clutching a small tablet PC he'd brought from somewhere.
"It really works!"
"I told you it would."
Did he miss the internet that badly...?
Well, when you thought about it, he had been in his mid-teens—the age when kids want to run around and explore—when the world changed. There must have been so many things he wanted to try and so much information he wanted to know.
But the internet could only be an ocean of information because servers and portal data centers existed to store it all. In the midst of global chaos, it was inevitable that many facilities and servers had been destroyed or shut down.
The newly restored internet only granted access to some of the old portals, and searches didn't yield much.
Still, companies seemed to be moving quickly—several portals already showed signs of active restoration efforts.
They had set up temporary pages on their domain addresses to announce that they still existed, complete with outdated banner ads that felt wildly out of place in the current era.
Most of those ads were recruitment notices for specific guilds or small clans. They ranged from public recruitment drives to hire members to announcements that even non-awakened individuals could apply for office positions.
Regardless, Kang Yeon-sung muttered "Will it work? Will it really?" under his breath as he launched something.
It appeared to be a messenger program linked to one of the large corporations that had put up a temporary page. Since it had been installed long ago, it loaded quickly.
There, emails and messages ranging from nearly five years old to about four years old were belatedly flashing with "new mail" notifications.
Paying them no attention, Kang Yeon-sung refreshed the friend list and adjusted settings to see who was currently logged in.
His movements looked remarkably familiar, as if this weren't his first time in years. Perhaps he had mentally prepared himself for the day this moment would arrive.
"Oh, there they are."
Kang Yeon-sung had found someone's name. Surprisingly, five friends were currently online, and one of the IDs looked familiar.
Fearing he might mistake it for someone else, the display name used the real name exactly. Even Kang Tae-sung, watching from the side, could tell who his youngest brother was talking about.
Permanently on standby.
Was she staying up all night waiting?
If she had been beside them, he might have given her a light scolding. But even though she existed only as text right now, the feeling of gladness far outweighed everything else.
Soon a small popup appeared with a ding-dong sound. It was a video call request.
"I wonder if the camera still works."
Saying so, Kang Yeon-sung roughly wiped the lens at the top front of the tablet with his finger.
After brushing away the accumulated dust and accepting the request, someone's face appeared in the window.
-...Huh!
Beside it, the view from their side was displayed as well.
What was strange was that he remembered video calls usually having some delay depending on transmission speed. Yet the speed at which their images appeared on screen was nearly real-time.
And the Kang Yu-ri shown there looked utterly dazed upon seeing the two faces on this end—especially the eldest brother sitting beside Kang Yeon-sung.
"It's been a while."
-Is that really you, big brother?
"Yes. It's me."
At Kang Tae-sung's answer, Kang Yu-ri mumbled as if trying to speak, then frowned and began to cry.
"I'm sorry. I'm late. Far too late."
-I thought you were dead.
"So I heard."
When he smiled awkwardly, his younger sister scolded him that this wasn't something to smile about. Then she began to panic, saying the battery was almost dead.
-We have to charge in public areas. The lights and everything are all rechargeable... so I think we'll have to turn off the video for now.
"Alright. ...How are Mother and Father?"
Kang Tae-sung had asked just as the video window closed, and he wondered if she had heard him.
But another ding-dong sounded, and the chat message from his sister in the newly opened window put his mind at ease.
"Just as I expected," Kang Yeon-sung said with a slightly darkened expression after reading his sister's messages.
Even for military families, the worsening distribution situation would only grow more severe—unless the region itself was functioning properly.
When asked about second brother Kang Han-sung, Kang Yu-ri answered that way.
Though text carried no emotion, Kang Tae-sung could somehow picture his younger sister's face filled with guilt and sorrow.
After Kang Tae-sung disappeared.
No—actually, even during the time when Kang Tae-sung had still been part of the family, it was the second son, Kang Han-sung, who had truly acted as the eldest.
The boy who had been so capable from a young age never hated or coldly treated his older brother even after he became passive and self-centered. Instead, he stepped up even more to take care of things.
The decision to stay in the military had probably been more for the family's sake than his own.
"If you manage to contact Han-sung, tell him I've returned... and that he doesn't need to worry anymore."
"Yes, big brother."
Kang Yeon-sung typed his eldest brother's words exactly as spoken and sent them to Kang Yu-ri.
After ending the chat, Kang Yeon-sung logged out of the messenger first, then turned back to Kang Tae-sung, who was still sitting beside him, watching quietly.
"Are you really a hunter?"
"......"
Wondering how best to prove it, Kang Tae-sung suddenly remembered what Kim Myeong-hui had shown him and raised his left hand.
In truth, the mark could appear on any desired spot, not just the back of the hand, but showing the back of the hand seemed the most neutral when revealing it to others.
Kang Yeon-sung had been staring with wide eyes, still unable to believe his eldest brother was an awakened. But after seeing the number slowly rise above the outstretched back of his brother's hand, he had no choice but to accept it.
"Brother... now it's my turn to ask questions, right?"
-What happened during those five years?
At his youngest brother's question, Kang Tae-sung gave another awkward smile.
"There were all sorts of things."
If he really wanted to talk about them, he could.
In fact, he wanted to talk about them more than anything. About everything he had done and experienced over those hundred-plus years.
If he didn't confide in someone, he feared he might forget it all as if it were nothing. He feared those days might cease to exist.
"Just... let's say I went on a long trip."
"Is it hard to talk about?"
"I could tell you, but..."
-It's too long a story.
Kang Tae-sung replied that way, thinking the words he had added fit rather perfectly.
Author's Note
I received advice that a reservation time of 12:07 is more advantageous than 11:57.
I don't particularly pay attention to rankings, but it does feel bad to be at a disadvantage.
I'll try changing the upload time to 12:07.
I'll make the same change for the daytime upload.
Thank you for the advice.
See you next time...