The Garden of Death
The explosive growth of plants changes many things. That doesn't mean the Earth's oxygen concentration suddenly spikes, of course. The Earth is vast. Expansive. No matter how much plants grow, they won't suddenly push the average oxygen concentration from 21 percent to 30 percent. However, they can generate massive amounts of water vapor. That alone is enough to change a great deal. On a planetary scale, it would just be a minor happening. But for the humans living here? It’s nothing short of a catastrophe.
For starters, extreme localized downpours have become frequent. Rain that makes the squalls often seen in Southeast Asia look like nothing. Rain is usually a blessing. But when it comes as a localized downpour, the story changes. These sudden, torrential deluges that dump water in a short span of time ruin many things. Not just crops, but the very structures humans have built. Add landslides and river flooding to the mix, and nature proves to be extreme. Or perhaps, should I call it natural?
If it rains like crazy in one place, it means that much less rain falls elsewhere. Experts—well, maybe not even experts, just people—called it the regional imbalance of precipitation. In some places, it rains heavily, while in others, not a single drop falls, leaving the land parched. It became quite common to hear absurd news of floods and droughts occurring simultaneously. Drought is serious. For humans to gather and live, they need to consume a significant amount of water. It’s not for nothing that civilization flourished around great rivers. There’s a reason why water management has been crucial since ancient times. Anyway, droughts brought with them a host of problems. Furthermore, as the days grew drier, the risk of wildfires increased. Since plants were growing more than usual, there was more fuel, and those wildfires burned without restraint. This is especially true for Korea. The plants that exploded in growth during the spring and summer dried up completely through autumn and winter, turning into massive piles of kindling. Forest fires were already frequent in the spring and autumn, but now such events have become commonplace. To a serious degree.
Yet, people still didn't really feel the gravity of these events. That’s how weather is. Sometimes there’s heavy snow, sometimes the monsoon season doesn't arrive. Hail might fall, or a cold snap or heatwave unseen in decades might strike. People have become indifferent. That’s the problem. Just as there are no Koreans worried about the missiles fired by the North Korean pig, climate change doesn't receive much attention. Just a "Huh, it's a bit weird lately, isn't it?" That’s about it. However, those on the front lines were growing increasingly concerned. Especially the farmers. When the weather acts like this, their worries and anxieties mount. It’s only natural, as it’s directly tied to the year's harvest. Farming is a business where missing the timing by just a little makes the word "ruined" come out of your mouth automatically. And then there were others. Doctors. They must be feeling it firsthand. "Is something happening right now?" they must be wondering.
The changed weather patterns and increased water vapor created a hot and humid environment. As a rule, hot and humid conditions are breeding grounds for infectious diseases. Mosquitoes and ticks will multiply like crazy, and the numbers of rodents and wild animals will also explode. That was another reason why the farmers' worries were so severe. They were already struggling to keep an eye on the weather, so having other things go haywire made it unbearable. Anyway, with all sorts of infectious diseases emerging, doctors are having a hell of a time, too. And absurdly enough, malaria even became prevalent in Korea. Malaria is a disease that already had some patients in Korea. Near the DMZ in northern Gyeonggi or northern Gangwon, you still get malaria patients. A few dozen a year? Maybe in the hundreds at most? But the malaria that spread this time exceeded that level. Moreover, the name "malaria" sounds scary. So, the public's fear was quite significant. Even though the malaria that spread in Korea is different from the tropical malaria in places like Africa and has a low mortality rate, that doesn't mean the outbreak was harmless. There is no vaccine for malaria. It’s not a disease that usually spreads, after all. Originally, if you caught it, you could treat it with early diagnosis. So there was no reason to get preventative shots. That’s only for people traveling abroad. So, the malaria outbreak passed with quite a bit of impact. However, Korea has a well-established medical system. Plus, the Wuhan pneumonia had changed many things. It had raised people's experience levels. Therefore, while it became a fairly large outbreak, it wasn't enough to shake the foundations. People just moved on, thinking, "All sorts of things happen."
But to my eyes, those were all signs that the world was on the verge of collapse. It’s being gnawed away, bit by bit. These things accumulate, and eventually—thud!—it all comes crashing down. So, I, who was already convinced, continued to do my work. I don't know how much time I have left. So, until that moment, I believe the world will end, and I make the preparations I need to make. In the meantime, my house was completed. A mountain in Yongin. My house is there. It was something I never imagined. That I would build my own house in a place like this and live in it. The house was finished, but to others, it looked like an eyesore. The construction company even had a sour expression on their faces when they finished it. But that’s fine. I’m satisfied. A single-story building, but with a basement. It has quite a lot of space. I didn't know how much I would need to prepare, so I made the floor area as large as possible. The maximum size I could build. While my house was being built, I got a license to operate a crane. In truth, I didn't even need a license. As long as I have the crane, it doesn't matter. But I still wanted to learn properly. If you’re going to do something, you should learn it right. Now that the house is finished, there’s a lot to do. First, I have to fill it up. Furthermore, I have to create the conditions for this house to be self-sufficient. The most important thing, of course, is electricity. Electricity can't rely on just one source.
First, the main source is hydroelectric power. That’s the reason I bought the entire mountain. To utilize hydroelectric power. That’s also why I chose this mountain. There are two valleys here where water flows constantly. This area has a low elevation, so the volume of water collected from the surrounding mountains is quite significant. So, I’m preparing to connect hydroelectric power there. In truth, while hydroelectric power is good, the capacity isn't that large. No matter how I calculate it, a single hydroelectric generator is only enough to maintain one refrigerator. So, I’m doing other things in parallel. Wind turbines and solar panels. Things that can be used indefinitely as long as maintenance is possible. While the house was under construction, I checked everything regarding both. I received all the necessary permits and selected all the construction companies. It cost a lot of money, but it doesn't matter. I’m not taking this money with me to the grave. So, I’m installing wind turbines and solar panels all over the mountain. The problem is that these things won't work forever. They will definitely break. They will age, and problems will arise. Especially now, with frequent climate anomalies and increasing pollen and spores, those breakdowns will be even worse. Of course, I made thorough preparations for dustproofing to prevent that. I paid the companies to be extra meticulous. Still, problems will inevitably arise. So, I need to stock up on plenty of spare parts. So that I can replace them whenever they break. To do that, I need foundational knowledge about these things. That’s why I was short on time. I spent the year building the house in a daze. And fortunately, there’s still a little time left. Of course, it’s not certain whether the world will really end or not. If not, well, I guess I’ll just live by doing this kind of work later. I don't know. I bet on the world ending, so I don't think about the opposite side at all. Anyway, all of that costs money. No matter how much of an inheritance and life insurance money I have left, I need money. There’s so much to prepare for. So now, I need to grow my money, too. I’ve already bought plenty of stocks in filter companies and pharmaceutical companies, so the returns are sweet, but that’s not enough. So, I took out a loan, using the mountain and the house as collateral. Loans are truly great. It’s like getting back about 60 percent of the money I spent buying the mountain and building the house. Of course, I can only do this because I know the world is going to end. If it weren't for that, I would never do something like this. The amount of interest I have to pay every month is no joke. Of course, I set a generous grace period, so for the time being, I’m only paying the interest.
The house is ready. I’ve also secured at least the minimum amount of electricity and water. With just this, I’ll be able to maintain a minimum level of dignity no matter what happens. But there’s still a lot left. There’s so much to prepare. It’s so much that it’s hard to do it alone. However, I have no desire to work with anyone else. Trust others? How? I don't have the confidence. Even the Doctor doesn't know I’m doing this. Trusting someone is something that requires great courage. And I’m a coward who lacks such courage. I know that well. So, I will remain a coward. Rather than creating unnecessary variables, worrying about them, and living a complicated life, I will continue to work alone like this. Quietly. Taking only what I need. Now that the minimum preparations are finished, my heart feels a bit more generous. I hope the world ends quickly. So that I can quickly enjoy the fruits of my labor all by myself. But it seems like it will take a while for that to happen. It’s not like an alien spaceship will suddenly appear or a zombie virus will cover everything overnight. Humanity is dying slowly. This world is a vast garden of death. The plants will thrive faster than a gardener’s touch and kill this garden. No, the one who will die is the gardener. The plants in the garden are actually the ones coming to life. So, I give up on being a gardener. I have no intention of going against the plants. Instead, I’ll take them as an opportunity and just watch quietly from a corner of this garden.