Get to Work, Slaves

For days the siblings had rested and eaten their fill, and the beggarly shell they'd arrived in was gone.

Yu Hyeon stood with a dagger at his hip, the color fully restored to his face. No one would mistake this sturdy man for a patient anymore.

Yu Jin, whose chest was usually her most defining feature, became a different person the moment she drew her bow. Those cool, leveled eyes belonged to a born hunter.

With a chest that size, I wondered if drawing a bow wasn't uncomfortable—but hey, I'm sure she had her own technique.

Either way, I approved. Visuals: passed.

Now, then. The free-lunch season was over.

Time to work, slaves.

I opened my status window and projected the farming list in front of the two of them.

"These are the things I need. Grab them if you see them. The hardware store should have all of it, I think."

"The hardware store? I don't remember seeing one on the way here. Did you, oppa?"

"Not on the route we took. There was one in the other direction."

"And how would you know that?"

While the siblings bickered, I pulled a large real-estate map out of my backpack.

My absolute favorite farming item.

The moment I did, the status window popped up as if it had been waiting for exactly this.

What's this now?

There was no reason to refuse.

The moment I tapped Accept, light flared and the map unfurled in midair.

The real-estate map, now linked to the status window. Somewhat heavily nerfed, though. The three of us were blinking on it at the inn's location.

Wait, this is live-synced?

It was a crude little floor plan, like something scribbled into a notebook, but in a world like this it was basically a game-breaking cheat. I wanted to throw my hands up and cheer, but a manager has dignity to maintain—so I struck a pose like I'd known all along.

"Ahem. Use this for reference."

When I unlocked sharing permissions, the map became visible to the siblings too.

Unfortunately, there was no navigation function, so I dropped red pins by memory at the approximate locations.

"It should be somewhere around here. You'll need to head toward the main road. Focus your search in this area."

Yu Jin poked curiously at the empty air.

"Whoa, awesome. It feels like a map drawn in a phone doodle app, but also kind of, I don't know..."

Like it's being drilled straight into your head, that's what.

Yu Hyeon studied the map silently, then reached out his hand.

"Hm... I believe it works like this."

Before he'd even finished speaking, the shabby floor plan transformed into something resembling a navigation app's map.

Everything within two kilometers of the inn rendered in crisp detail.

Every last alleyway, and right next to the pin I'd dropped, a marker appeared: Three-Way Brother Hardware Store.

"...!"

"Whoa, oppa, did you do that?"

So it synced with employee skills too. Learned something new.

Worth splitting my hard-earned rations after all.

Yu Hyeon's unique skill: A Local Who Just Stepped Out for a Stroll.

Complete mastery of geography within a 2km radius of the inn.

Increased chance of discovering basic tools.

Structural durability of crafted constructs +10%.

Close-quarters attack power +10%.

I'd assigned him the position of Security & Defense, with the class of "Neighborhood Uncle."

It sounded like an unemployed middle-aged guy shuffling out in slippers for a smoke, but when it came to the neighborhood, locals reigned supreme.

Yu Jin's class was technically non-combat too—"Inn Cleaner"—but the moment I assigned her to the scouting team, a combat skill activated.

Quick Clean-Up: Attack speed +10%.

On top of that, the whole thing scaled with the inn's level.

I cleared my throat and stepped in front of the siblings.

"Don't forget today's objective. This is nothing more than a light warm-up."

In truth, Yu Hyeon had only just gotten back on his feet.

He insisted he was fine and played the healthy man, but it had only been days since his flesh was stitched back together. He'd barely recovered to minimum operational condition.

Even so, I was sending them outside because food was getting short.

A supply that would have comfortably lasted me over a week alone vanished in the blink of an eye once the two of them started sharing it.

They got their daily ration of hardtack and a 500ml bottle of water, but that was bare-minimum survival rations.

Beyond that, I wanted to use this opportunity to drill their combat coordination and get a look at the skills they'd acquired.

Most of all, Yu Hyeon looked restless. Apparently freeloading in bed all day had been weighing on his conscience.

So he does have one.

And so, today's operation: a light sweep of the area around the inn.

I ordered them not to stray far—farming near the base only.

Yu Jin tilted her head.

"Can't we just go raid the hardware store right now?"

"No. That area's along the main road. Too dangerous. Those biker gang bastards might be holding the choke points."

A few days ago, a gunshot at the center of the shantytown had drawn a horde of zombies straight through the gang's search parties, grinding them to paste.

If I were the biker boss, there's no way I'd be dumb enough to push more manpower into that mess.

Instead, they'd seal off the exits, wait for the walkers to starve and crawl out, and slowly tighten the noose from the outskirts.

There wasn't much to eat around here. Under normal circumstances it would have been an unwinnable fight for us—but not anymore.

"We'll hit the hardware store together in a few days. Until then, just focus on getting your bodies loose out there."

Right about when my outing skill reactivates, that is.

I wanted to reclaim the capital as soon as possible, but first came ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠safety, and second came safety.

Besides, with my power to turn trash into points, anything they hauled back was pure profit.

The two of them shouldered bulky backpacks and took up their weapons.

Watching their backs as they set out with grim resolve, I felt like a commander seeing a deployed unit off to war.

Yu Hyeon bowed with perfect formality.

"We'll be off, Boss."

He'd been calling me Manager, but after Yu Jin's lead, he'd settled on Boss like her.

"Off we go, Evil Boss."

Yu Jin gave a casual little wave.

"Right. Don't overdo it—just come back alive."

I put some weight into the words, and Yu Jin just beamed at me.

"So if we get bitten, that's fine?"

"You think that's fine? Ah, whatever, go get bitten if you want. The system will chase them off for you anyway."

No zombie could lay so much as a toe inside my safe zone. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ Not that I was hoping it would come to that.

And with that, Yu Hyeon and Yu Jin opened the door and stepped out.

I gave the suddenly quiet inn a slow once-over.

I'd survived mostly alone all this time, yet just days of living with people and I already felt the emptiness.

I chuckled to myself as I walked down the corridor.

The smell of rot and mold was gone. The building was old and falling apart, but every hour of scrubbing had been worth it.

I ran a hand down a creaking door.

"I should tell them to grab paint too. Might as well replace every door while we're at it."

Hearing myself mutter like that, I realized I was just about a real innkeeper already.

The inn had five rooms in total.

An office-slash-owner's room and four guest rooms, one of which had already been handed over to the siblings.

I stepped into the owner's room.

I'd ripped out every strip of the moldy wallpaper, leaving bare concrete, and the floor was bare with not even a yellowed linoleum sheet—but compared to the world outside, it felt somehow cozy.

I sat down at the old wooden desk and looked over the pile of loot stacked in the corner.

Things from my convenience store raid, plus the assorted junk cleared out during the inn's cleaning. I'd already sorted it all neatly.

The system graded even identical items differently depending on condition.

S~A Grade (Premium Material): Brand-new, unopened items or finished products.

B~C Grade (Standard Material): Quality ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠goods fit for immediate daily use or crafting.

D~E Grade (Low-Tier Material): Rusted or damaged junk where the original shape survived.

F Grade (Waste Material): Contaminated, rotted things that had lost their form entirely.

Easy enough to understand.

The same roll of linoleum, sealed and fresh, counted as S-Grade material, while one grown moldy and rotted beyond use was F-Grade waste.

Waste couldn't be synthesized, so you just ground it down into points.

"Finally done, huh."

I checked the timer on my status window.

Base upgrades weren't something I could just slam through endlessly.

Employee quarters applied instantly through the system, but major facilities like septic tank repairs or specialized equipment required a cooldown.

Three days after the septic tank repair.

"Now I can actually build something."

I rapped my knuckles on the creaky old wooden desk.

One leg groaned and the drawer handle was long gone—a genuine piece of junk, but more than enough to feed into the system.

I fed in the sorted waste on top of my existing points, bringing my total to 2,650.

Fifty points of that was an easy no-brainer investment.

"Alright. Let's see what you can do."

The moment I pressed Confirm, light flared and a new desk appeared.

Still an unremarkable wooden desk—but the creaking was gone, and the handle was back.

"Oh..."

Riding the momentum, I scrolled through the newly unlocked crafting tab.

Environmental upgrades, household furniture, defensive installations, survival tools.

There was plenty I could craft, but sadly, a shortage of materials kept me from actually making any of it right now.

Then, as I scrolled, one item leapt off the list.

I brought up the status window and messaged Yu Jin.

The fact that I contacted her instead of her brother was absolutely, definitely not because I'm a simp.

It was because Yu Hyeon's remote communication feature wasn't unlocked yet.

Messaging through the status window required a loyalty level of at least Cooperation, after all.

"Busy?"

"Not really? Why?"

For someone claiming not to be busy, things sounded pretty rowdy on her end.

Twang—! Thwip!

"Kgh... hck!"

The razor-sharp whistle of a bowstring slicing through air. The wet thunk of an arrow punching into something's forehead. And then the heavy, dead weight of something toppling over—all of it vividly audible through the link.

That's the sound of not being busy?

Unbelievable.

Twang—!

Another shot.

"Wow, this is actually insane. It's like shooting a target that's just standing there—except the targets keep sprinting around."

"Is that right."

I'd never fired a bow in my life, so I had zero concept of what that even felt like.

"So what's up? Why'd you message me, Evil Boss?"

"If you spot any LED bulbs or anything like that while you're out, grab them for me. Christmas tree lights would work too."

The crafting system's judgment was far more forgiving than I'd expected. Anything that vaguely resembled the target could be jury-rigged into place.

Car headlight bulbs could technically substitute, but the required quantity was absurd, making it wildly inefficient. The further the material drifted from the original form, the more the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠quantity and point cost multiplied.

"...What? Christmas lights? You throwing a party or something?"

Yu Jin's bewildered voice came through.

"Everything has a use. You'll see later."

So that was the plan for luring guests to this run-down inn in the middle of a shantytown, huh. You really did have it all figured out, didn't you, status window.

A grin slipped out before I could stop it.