The Trading Post
“So, no matter how you look at it, it’s just not feasible.”
“What could the kids possibly do?”
“It’s just guard duty. I think they could handle that much.”
“You’re still saying that after what happened last night?”
The people gathered in the gymnasium were engaged in a heated debate. The topic, as expected, centered on whether young children could properly stand guard.
Both sides presented arguments with their own logic and persuasiveness. Adult perspectives, children’s perspectives, and elderly viewpoints mingled together. Eventually, Kang Tae-sung left the gymnasium.
“This won’t be easy.”
He could sympathize with the point that while large monsters might be noticeable, an awakened individual moving with intent would be impossible for children to detect or stop.
Stationing children on guard duty was meant to spot approaching monsters, not to defend against awakened people targeting them. Last night’s incident had occurred precisely because of that oversight.
Honestly, he hadn’t anticipated something like that happening in a civilized society.
The suggestion to place children on guard duty had come from Kang Tae-sung himself, yet no one held him responsible. Perhaps it was consideration for the family’s near-exclusive role as food providers. It wasn’t a particularly welcome form of consideration.
Kang Tae-sung spotted a boy sitting alone in a distant corner of the playground, beneath a wisteria-covered bench. The child had a long gauze bandage wrapped around his forearm, secured with adhesive tape, and sat staring blankly into space.
Yet it was obvious what those vacant eyes were seeing.
Approaching quietly, Kang Tae-sung spoke.
“Forget it.”
“……”
The boy slowly lifted his head and looked up at him with a dazed expression.
“Even if someone says that, it’s ultimately impossible.”
Kang Tae-sung sat down beside the boy and gazed toward the wall the child had been staring at.
“You won’t forget. No matter what you do.”
You’ll have nightmares, too.
You’ll dream the same dream dozens, hundreds of times.
The boy’s shoulders flinched at Kang Tae-sung’s detached words.
“At some point, you’ll think, ‘Why did I have to be the one who survived?’ And around then, you might even try to hurt yourself.”
If it hurts this much, maybe it’ll be okay.
If it’s this painful, maybe it can replace the death of my friend.
“I should have been the one who died.” You’ll think things like that.
“Yes.”
“The weak curse themselves. The strong think of revenge.”
And those who curse themselves will die without ever taking a single step forward.
“If you don’t become strong, the same thing can happen again at any time.”
“……”
“You probably don’t understand right now.”
When you can grieve, it’s better to grieve.
Kang Tae-sung had no intention of forcing the boy to pull himself together.
As he stood up, a broadcast from Headquarters suddenly crackled through the loudspeakers scattered throughout the area—ones whose wires had not yet been cut.
[Attention, residents of the city.]
[Effective immediately, the existing Headquarters has been dissolved.]
[From now on, we will proceed with rebuilding the city and nation in accordance with proper procedures and formalities.]
[For details, please check the local community forums online or the notice boards at City Hall.]
The male voice fell silent after a burst of static.
“……”
Surprised by the sudden news, Kang Tae-sung reached into his pocket and pulled out a brand-new tablet PC from the leather pouch. He had taken it from the electronics section of the large supermarket last time; the rest had been placed in the gymnasium for communal use.
Among the items brought back from the electronics section, the most useful so far was a product called a mini solar generator. It consisted of solar panels roughly the size of a school desk surface, with built-in components and only plugs and cords extending outward. Though designed for household use and producing only about 200W per hour under sufficient sunlight, installing many of them on the school roof had partially compensated for the broken panels.
Thanks to this, the storage battery’s remaining charge had risen slightly, though increased usage from newly adopted electronics kept the balance roughly the same.
Hmm.
Kang Tae-sung, now reasonably familiar with the device, connected to the internet and checked the local community forums and City Hall bulletin boards.
The posts contained fairly detailed information. Though worded indirectly, it was clear that the Headquarters chief had been ousted overnight and that government officials had taken control of City Hall.
Some comments suggested a small-scale battle had taken place.
Perhaps the fighting hadn’t been intense enough to reach this far, or maybe it had occurred while Kang Tae-sung was away from the school.
I’m not sure if this is a good thing or not.
The former city defense force, dissatisfied with the chief’s removal, had abandoned their defense and guard duties. They claimed the city wouldn’t last a few days without them, but their argument lacked real conviction.
From what Kang Tae-sung had observed, the number of monsters reaching the city center was not particularly high. If anything, hunters should have been the ones hunting them rather than relying on a defensive perimeter.
Most monsters preferred earthen ground, so they rarely ventured deep into the urban area where soil was scarce, usually lingering only on the outskirts. Occasionally, packs of wolves or similar monsters that ignored this preference roamed about, but they posed no significant threat.
The real danger wasn’t monster attacks but shortages of supplies and food.
Apparently aware of this, the ousted chief and the remaining defense force were attempting to rally residents by using their remaining rations as leverage. Ordinary citizens had little choice but to follow if they wanted to avoid starvation, though everyone suspected it wouldn’t last long.
The defense force’s supplies were limited, whereas the government side now occupying Headquarters claimed they would continue receiving relief supplies via transport planes. If the mages accompanying them could accelerate crop growth and stabilize food distribution, the balance of power would shift even further.
The public’s unrest was a side effect of weighing the uncertain present against the uncertain future.
Regardless of how the city’s sentiment shifted, it didn’t feel immediately relevant. Kang Tae-sung was more interested in the additional details that had come with the announcement.
“Bro! Did you hear the news?”
“Big brother!”
The two younger brothers who came running shouted as they caught their breath, waiting for Kang Tae-sung to finish looking at the tablet.
“They’re going to repair the shops and offices near City Hall.”
“They’re using relief supplies to put people to work, apparently.”
Repairing abandoned shops and offices meant they intended to use those spaces again. What interested Kang Tae-sung most was the plan to convert one of the renovated buildings into a trading post for monster byproducts.
Of course, that was a future plan. The trading post itself would open today, with a temporary exchange set up in one corner of the City Hall parking lot.
I do have a few things to sell.
Monster byproducts had previously been sold either to Headquarters or traded among hunters. Since Headquarters hadn’t offered fair prices, many items had been stockpiled instead of sold.
In a rural area like this, getting proper value was difficult, but if the government was buying, that was welcome news—especially since they promised to measure the mana content of cores and pay accordingly.
Won currency, huh.
The fact that payments would be made in Korean won was somewhat concerning. However, they also planned to operate permanent stores selling daily necessities and various goods, which suggested the currency would be linked to those shops.
It was an attempt to prevent the collapse of the won. To keep hunters from rejecting it, they would also run an exchange office converting won to points and vice versa. The government’s goal, of course, was to collect fees from both sides.
Similar developments were appearing in other cities online. The national reconstruction project was officially underway.
The plan aimed to prevent starvation across cities and regions, restore lost roads to reconnect areas, and separately hunt existing monsters to produce cores and materials.
“They say cores are going to be worth a lot of money from now on,” Kang Han-sung remarked.
In Seoul, cores had already been traded at proper prices, but in rural areas they had only fetched meager supplies from Headquarters. Now, no hunter would sell cores or other byproducts at such low prices. Even ordinary people understood the value of cores in accelerating food production and generating electricity.
“Big brother, don’t you have things to sell too?”
“If we don’t go on the first day, we might not get a fair price, right?”
Kang Tae-sung listened to his brothers and found himself agreeing with the youngest’s muttered remark that the money or goods prepared by Headquarters might run out if they delayed.
“Let’s at least go take a look.”
The three brothers climbed into the truck, its bloodstains now thoroughly cleaned, and headed toward City Hall. Kang Han-sung took the wheel, Kang Yeon-sung sat in the passenger seat with his seatbelt fastened, and Kang Tae-sung stood in the cargo bed, surveying the surroundings as they drove.
Can it really be revived?
Could this city be rebuilt? Could the people who had been living in groups return to their individual homes and families, living as they once did?
Even if food is solved, the monsters remain the problem.
Few monsters ventured deep into the city center yet, but there was no guarantee that would last forever. Just like humans, beasts and monsters possessed the ability to adapt.
“Becoming an awakened might be God’s mercy after all,” Kang Tae-sung muttered suddenly.
Among the fusion with the Otherworld, the appearance of monsters, and everything else, the greatest advantage for humanity was the possibility of awakening and growing stronger.
The gods do like possibilities.
While he was lost in thought, the truck arrived near City Hall.
“There are so many people.”
“I wonder where they all came from.”
The area was packed with a crowd so dense it seemed impossible they had been hiding anywhere. Even Kang Tae-sung, standing in the cargo bed, widened his eyes in rare surprise at the sight.