[Episode 02] Survivors (2)
The house next door was completely dark.
The lights weren’t on, but it was dark in broad daylight, probably because of the thick curtains covering the entire living room window.
‘That’s smart.’
If you do it that way, you won’t be attacked by flying monsters like Kellikan.
‘But it’s too dark.’
As I stepped out of the hallway, I realized that the skill of maintaining dignity was applicable anywhere within my domain.
So it was possible to press the doorbell and open the door at will.
Within the confines of my home, everything went according to my will.
‘That’s how it was done, right?’
I wanted to look up at the living room ceiling.
‘Turn it on.’
Flash
As soon as the lights came on, I felt Choi Hyung-jun’s family flinch and tremble.
“Huh? The light’s on!”
Only the youngest child in the house, about 5 years old, was amazed without even knowing what was going on.
The rest were trembling with fear.
I handed over a bottle of Samdasoo to Choi Hyeong-jun, who was looking at me with trembling eyes.
“First, give the children some water.”
“Oh, yes. Thank you.”
Choi Hyeong-jun carefully accepted the water I handed him with both hands.
I actually felt burdened by the fact that he seemed overly polite.
‘Was the first appearance too impactful?’
Ringing the doorbell and opening the door without hesitation were both intentional actions.
The goal was to push the concept as mystical as possible while at the same time taking the lead in the conversation.
But it seemed to be a lot better than I expected.
“Nayeon, Seoyeon. Let’s drink some water.”
The two of them kept an eye on me while giving the children water. Thanks to them, the children also kept an eye on me.
“Kelok! Kelok!”
“Seoyeon! Are you okay?”
As expected, Choi Seo-yeon, who was drinking water in an uncomfortable atmosphere, started coughing repeatedly because she had a cough.
‘I need to lighten the mood before we talk.’
Feeling sorry for scaring her, I took a tangerine out of the box and approached Choi Seo-yeon.
Then he squatted down, got down to the child’s eye level, handed him a tangerine, and spoke to him.
“Do you like tangerines?”
Choi Seo-yeon nodded slowly, even though she was groaning.
“ruler.”
“Oh, thank you. Kolok.”
Choi Seo-yeon, who received the tangerines while bowing, carefully handed the tangerines over to her mother, Park Hye-won, while watching my reaction.
“for a moment.”
Park Hye-won skillfully peeled a tangerine and put a piece into Choi Seo-yeon’s mouth.
As soon as the sweet entered her mouth, Choi Seo-yeon quickly relaxed and smiled.
“Hehehe. Mom, give me some more!”
“delicious?”
“yes!”
The frozen atmosphere quickly melted away as the four-year-old smiled.
“Me too, Mom, me too!”
Choi Na-yeon, who looked to be about 6 years old, also ran to her mother and received a tangerine.
That was when.
[Citizen Choi Seo-yeon’s trust level increases.]
[Citizen Choi Na-yeon’s trust level increases.]
[Citizen Park Hye-won’s trust level increases.]
[Citizen Choi Hyeong-jun’s trust level increases.]
After that, new messages continued to appear one after another.
[Citizen Choi Seo-yeon’s trustworthiness has reached 50.]
[Loyalty is open.]
[Citizen Choi Seo-yeon’s loyalty has surpassed 30.]
[Citizen Choi Seo-yeon has met the conditions for registration.]
From the beginning, Choi Seo-yeon’s reliability was high at 42.
It looks like it was over 50 with just one tangerine.
I quietly opened the citizen management window and checked Choi Seo-yeon’s information.
『Name: Choi Seo-yeon (Lv. 2)
Trust: 57 Loyalty: 33
Awakening Ability: None
Experience distribution rate: 0%
Settlement distribution rate: 0%
★Quest Granting Exit』
Not only did trust increase, but a new index called loyalty was created.
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This one was also 33 from the start.
‘Is it because he’s a young child?’
Anyway, thanks to that, I was able to figure out the conditions for registering.
The new registration system was a new feature that appeared when the Maintain Dignity skill was raised to level 2.
As soon as I was born, I tried to register Choi Hyeong-jun, who had the highest level, as my vassal, but it failed with the message, ‘Conditions not met.’
Trust 50 and Loyalty 30.
That was the minimum requirement for registration.
‘Should I try registering to go to Choi Seo-yeon?’
I hesitated for a moment, then quickly gave up.
‘They’re too young and their level is too low.’
Unlike citizens, only 10 people were allowed to register as evacuees.
As a citizen who met the conditions for the first time, I could have registered as a souvenir, but then I might not be able to cancel it like in the case of the store window.
It was too good of a waste to even try it.
‘It might be more effective than you think. So if you register as a new member, you have to be at least as good as Choi Hyung-jun.’
He is a healthy man in his 30s and is level 9.
It was right to raise Choi Hyeong-jun’s abilities in order to hunt monsters smoothly.
‘but···.’
□Choi Hyeong-jun (Trust: 31) (Lv. 9)
The only reliability that was improved was at level 31.
There is still a long way to go before it reaches 50.
‘Honestly, it’s a bit of a waste to use it on Choi Hyeong-jun.’
That was when.
“Um···.”
Choi Hyeong-jun spoke first.
“How can I repay this favor···.”
“There is a way.”
“···yes?”
“Let’s talk privately in the hallway for a moment.”
“Uh, yes.”
It was an awkward story to tell in front of my family.
Because from now on, I was going to ask him to risk his life for me.
***
When we came out into the hallway and were alone together, Choi Hyeong-jun froze as stiffly as when we first met.
First, I threw it lightly to relieve tension.
“Have you received citizenship?”
Choi Hyeong-jun hesitated for a moment and then answered.
“If you mean the notification window that appears in the air, yes, I received it. My family received it about thirty minutes ago.”
The question was to see if citizens were aware of the granting of citizenship.
“So, before that notification appeared, there was nothing special?”
“Oh, that···.”
“Was there?”
“Yes. For a moment, my body was stiff and I couldn’t do anything.”
“I see. Thank you for telling me.”
It seems that there was a temporary stiffness before being accepted as a citizen.
‘Then what happens to the monsters?’
The corner declaration skill has reached level 5, and the entire 30th floor has been transformed into a territory.
Naturally, it could be inferred that the area would expand as the level went up.
If you do this, there will come a time when you will find non-human monsters within the area.
Likewise, it would be nice if I could be rigid and kick them out at will, but it didn’t seem like things would go that easily.
‘···Let’s think about that when we get there.’
There was too much to do to worry about.
“I’ll get straight to the point. I’ll help you get back to your old stable life. A life where you can cook, take a warm shower, and stuff like that.”
“yes?”
“Not only that, I guarantee your safety inside the house. No monster will be able to invade unless I give permission.”
“···Is that true?”
“I promise on my name.”
Choi Hyeong-jun looked at me with trembling eyes and then spoke with a determined look.
“Of course you won’t do all this for free. What should I do?”
I looked at him blankly for a moment in silence before opening my mouth.
“What I’m about to ask you is something that could possibly cost you your life. Would you still do it?”
Choi Hyeong-jun’s worries after hearing that he could seriously die were surprisingly short.
“Yes, I will. If only my wife and children were safe, what wouldn’t I do? If it weren’t for you, I would have gone out and tried to find water and food. I already risked my life at that time.”
At first, I planned to have Choi Hyeong-jun go goblin hunting right away.
But now I’ve changed my mind.
It was because of his disappointing appearance when we first met.
‘I was so nervous that I thought he might swing a golf club.’
At the time I rang the doorbell, I was using the eyes of the Absolute and had a perfect grasp of the situation inside.
At that time, I was quite nervous when I saw the golf club in Choi Hyeong-jun’s hand.
I even thought about whether I should shout at them not to attack as soon as they entered.
But when he actually entered the house, Choi Hyeong-jun didn’t attack even once.
‘It’s a big mess.’
Although he was physically large and had good bone structure, he seemed to be more sensitive than he looked.
It might be seen as a natural reaction for modern people, but it was disappointing nonetheless.
‘I think I can do it.’
I had experience catching Kellykan, although I relied heavily on my corner declaration skill.
In the case of the goblins, all they could do was throw dumbbells at them and catch them, but if they were given proper weapons, they wouldn’t lose.
‘You don’t have to be a belligerent, but you should be able to fight without panicking when you meet a goblin.’
Choi Hyung-jun, who I’ve seen so far, is a responsible adult who knows how to sacrifice himself for his family, but he doesn’t seem like someone who would kill or do anything.
Suddenly, I noticed the golf club in his hand.
‘It’s probably made of solid iron, right? If you swing that thing around, you could easily crush a goblin’s head.’
I held out my hand to Choi Hyeong-jun and said.
“Can I see those golf clubs?”
“Oh, this? Here it is.”
After receiving the golf club, I repeated to myself.
‘Open store. Register items.’
There was one thing I realized while using the Absolute’s Eye skill earlier.
You can use skills without having to say anything.
It wasn’t that difficult, although it required a little concentration.
Jiiing―
The light pouring in from the shop window scanned the golf clubs, and a new item was registered in the store.
Judging from Choi Hyeong-jun’s reaction, it seemed like he couldn’t see the store window or the light coming from it.
Used Golf Clubs (538,200 won) ▶Repair
‘what?’
Those were some damn expensive golf clubs.
‘530 thousand won?’
The amount with a 10% discount thanks to the store level effect was 530,000 won.
I asked Choi Hyeong-jun with a dumbfounded expression.
“How much is this?”
“Uhhhh. I remember giving about forty thousand won.”
“Forty-two?”
“yes.”
I’ve felt this way before, but this damn store’s prices for items that need to be repaired are higher than the original prices.
Even if it’s used, it wouldn’t be enough to give it a half price discount.
‘To repair.’
I pressed the repair button just to try it out and the estimate came up right away.
[It costs 3,870,000 won to repair a ‘used golf club’.]
[Would you like to restore it?]
‘crazy.’
A whopping 4 million won was needed for restoration.
It was almost half of the money I had.
‘Cancel! Cancel!’
Anyway, there wasn’t much difference between used and new items.
Rather than repairing something like this, it would be better to just buy it as is at a slightly higher price.
‘I don’t know if I’ll need dozens of them…’
Before that, it was actually a loss to repair the product.
“Um… Is that really okay? I’ll give you as much as you want. And the other golf clubs I have at home.”
Choi Hyeong-jun looked slightly relaxed.
It was likely to happen.
Whenever we were talking seriously about life and stuff, we were always asking about the price of golf clubs.
I quickly changed the subject.
“Ahem, ahem. Do you remember the day the monsters appeared?”
“···I remember.”
“It was Saturday. It was the weekend. I think a lot of people were probably resting at home.”
Because the weather was so nice, some people may have gone out to play, but there must have also been many people resting at home.
So what that meant was that even in this apartment, there were probably dozens of people still alive.
“The lucky people who were at home at that time might still be alive. Please go and find them.”
I haven’t fought a goblin directly, but I don’t think a single one would be very powerful.
You could tell just by looking at his size and his level that he was lower than an adult male.
A goblin’s real weapon is numbers.
They hunt in packs, working together closely.
But goblins aren’t the only ones who can form groups.
Since ancient times, pushing with numbers has been one of mankind’s traditional weapons.
Choi Hyeong-jun judged that it would be difficult to hunt goblins alone, so he decided to focus on increasing the number of troops capable of fighting goblins.
“I would like you to find the survivors and bring them up here.”
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