Footsteps Through the Ruins
How far had he walked?
If it had been daytime, he would have broken into a run without hesitation. But unlike walking, running silently was almost impossible for his body now.
He simply lightened his steps and quickened his walking pace. At one point he suddenly looked up at the still-deep night sky, its canvas crowded with stars and the single moon anchored among them.
Is this an improvement?
The night sky in the other world had more moons, yet for some strange reason the moonlight made it difficult to see the stars. Only a handful bright enough to count on one’s fingers would shine, which was why the same constellations carried countless different names depending on region, nation, and race.
Staring at his hometown’s night sky—with its multitude of stars and that single, deeply comforting moon—he finally began to feel, in a small but real way, that he had truly come home.
The only problem was how vastly different it looked from the hometown he had longed for and imagined…
That’s how the world works. Not many things go the way I want.
It had taken him no small amount of time to truly accept that truth. In the past he might have brushed it off as mere grumbling, but now he understood it completely.
The commercial district lay on the far side of the local river that cut through the city. South of the river stood residential neighborhoods, apartment complexes, large marts, and factory zones on the outskirts. Across the water were shopping districts and office towers.
So the residential areas were abandoned.
Kang Tae-sung had spotted an apartment complex from a distance and noticed neither lights nor any trace of living presence. The thought came naturally.
If an entire district once filled with countless households had been deserted, what kind of danger could have driven them out?
The only answers that rose to mind were monster threats or full-scale war. Then again, if the creature had been large enough to topple apartment buildings, it was possible everyone had evacuated and never returned.
Yet neither in the future city the Saintess had shown him through her crystal ball nor in the places he had briefly explored since returning had he sensed the presence or traces of any giant monster.
“War, then…”
More than half of one visible apartment block had been reduced to rubble in a way that suggested missile strikes or aerial bombing. The possibility felt stronger now, and Kang Tae-sung put more force into his increasingly heavy steps.
His combat boots had hard soles, yet they made almost no sound. Since he was not attempting infiltration or ambush, there was no need to silence his footsteps.
Crunch.
“……”
The real difference was that he was now stepping on dirt in the middle of a city street—something he could never have imagined in the past.
Kang Tae-sung glanced down at the shattered sidewalk blocks and the cracked, sunken asphalt before turning his blank gaze forward again.
There was fighting here.
What caught his eye next was a collapsed wall that still bore the marks of considerable time, along with blackened scorch traces left on part of it.
It had been an artificial explosion, likely from a modern explosive containing gunpowder. The possibility of landmines made his steps turn cautious.
He had been walking on the sidewalk out of habit even though the road was ruined. Deciding the asphalt was safer if mines were present, he picked out the remaining solid sections and continued on. The moon still hung in the night sky, casting its light over the ground.
There was probably no place quieter than a road without cars. Walking alone through that strange silence, hearing only his own footsteps, gave him the fleeting illusion that he was the last person on earth. But he already knew that wasn’t true, so the feeling brought no despair.
Still, he couldn’t help regretting that a car would have let him move far faster—then realized that no ordinary vehicle could navigate roads in this condition. A bicycle would be even worse; it would snag and topple or break within a few meters.
I’m worried about Mother’s legs.
His family had never lived comfortably. The house was rented, and to cover living expenses his parents had worked every kind of job since he was small.
Countryside rent hadn’t been crushing, but the true cause of their hardship was his father’s debt. It wasn’t that his father had done anything wrong. He hadn’t failed at business or chased huge sums of money. He had simply lacked the eye for people. It was the classic story of standing as someone’s guarantor.
Back when his second sibling was still a runny-nosed child and the youngest hadn’t even been born, they had sold their Seoul home and moved to a province with no connections. Only later did he learn they had paid off part of the debt with the sale, but it still hadn’t been enough.
Even with such hard work, trying to keep three sons and a daughter from feeling too discouraged had left them barely able to pay the interest some months.
As a child he hadn’t understood any of it. He had simply hated leaving his friends in Seoul for a smaller, shabbier house and neighborhood. The new area was underdeveloped; there were few children, and finding playmates had been difficult.
Perhaps that was why he had stayed indoors with books and games instead of exercising and ended up shorter than average.
But none of that mattered anymore.
What worried him now was the knee pain his mother had suffered since his high-school days. It could be called an age-related joint issue, yet something that began in her forties could not be blamed on age alone.
It was an illness born of hardship, and he could not deny that part of that hardship had been his responsibility. With the roads in this state, everyone would have to walk; therefore he could not stop worrying about his mother’s bad knees.
I wonder how much value gold still holds.
He didn’t know for certain, but the gold coins in the pouch the King had given him alone seemed like they would fetch a considerable sum.
He had no idea whether hospitals were still functioning properly, but if treatment and surgery remained possible, he wanted to have her knee joints fixed.
Father’s back was bad too.
Now that he had finally returned, he felt the urge to fulfill the duties of the eldest son he had never properly performed.
His second brother, who had shouldered the role in place of his worthless older sibling. His third sister, who had quietly given up her dream of studying art once she understood the family’s situation. And the youngest, who had wanted to pursue music—he wanted to help them all.
I don’t know how the world has changed.
Even now, perhaps art and music still existed. If one had the money, couldn’t they learn?
To make any of those wishes reality, he first had to find his family. And he believed without doubt that they were safe.
His parents were strong survivors. His siblings were quick-witted and good at reading situations. He knew he himself had been the most helpless and clueless member of the family; without him, they would have managed even better.
“……”
As long as they hadn’t done anything reckless while searching for him. As long as they hadn’t gone to dangerous places.
He shook his head hard to scatter the momentary worry, then turned the corner and stepped onto what had once been a four-lane main avenue through the city center.
Almost at once he noticed something: unlike the smaller roads around it, this avenue had far fewer damaged sections.
No. There are clear signs of repairs in several places.
Not every lane was intact, but it looked as though they had maintained one lane well enough for vehicles to drive. That meant cars might still travel here. He had entered a road that people actually used.
Countless unused buildings still lined both sides of the avenue, but across the distant bridge, on the urban side, he could see one or two lights burning.
They might be using the river itself as a boundary between districts. Without hesitation Kang Tae-sung headed that way, quickening his pace—then broke into a run.
“……”
By the time he realized he was running, the bridge that had seemed far away was already right before him.
I got excited.
Even in a situation like this, excessive excitement was never good. Overwhelming emotion invited frequent mistakes and faulty judgment.
He didn’t need to steady his breathing or slow his heartbeat. No matter how he felt, neither his lungs nor his heart were racing.
Sanghwa Bridge
From the stone plaque set at the start of the bridge, he thought that perhaps this was the one thing that had changed the least.
He reached out and touched it for a moment, then looked at the bridge itself, its midpoint, and the far side in turn.
As expected, they seemed to have drawn a line at the bridge. Makeshift barriers resembling military sandbags had been placed at intervals, and crossed wooden barricades were scattered everywhere.
Small spikes strewn across the ground also caught his eye. They would certainly shred tires, so he couldn’t tell whether the obstacles were meant to stop monsters or vehicles. Perhaps both.
Kang Tae-sung stepped lightly onto the bridge and walked a little farther, then looked down at the river flowing beyond the railing—or rather, beyond where the railing should have been.
This is dangerous.
Something felt wrong. Looking again, he realized the guardrails meant to prevent falls were missing entirely. He turned his head; the other side was the same.
Why had that thought occurred to him? Suddenly he remembered that the outer roads had also lacked guardrails and median barriers. The absence of speed-limit or distance signs now made sense.
Metal.
Come to think of it, he had not seen any proper metal during his entire walk. Among the building debris he had seen concrete, cement lumps, and bricks, but no rebar or steel frames.
Is metal in short supply?
If they were so desperate they had to strip the bridge railings and road guardrails, the situation was serious.
Yet if they were willing to go that far, couldn’t they simply demolish the countless ownerless buildings and salvage the metal inside? With that thought he resumed walking—only for something sharp to come streaking toward him from the far side of the bridge.