A city? Is there really a place where civilization still exists.
“They say there’s a safe city? Not just a place where people gather, but a real city?”
“Well, that’s what I heard. It’s got these insanely high walls that go biiing~ all around it, and the walls are so thick it’s unreal.
The name was weird too. What was it? Some fancy English name, like ‘damn something-or-other,’ I don’t know.”
As I listened to the old man’s story, it sounded like this city still had abundant resources, enough to use electricity and water freely.
Nothing about the rumors was certain, but it seemed like people genuinely believed in the existence of a city hidden behind tall walls.
‘Hmm. I’ll have to ask Jubi-young about this separately.’
“They say if you can just get there, they’ll take in survivors. Who knows? Maybe that ‘window’ only you guys can see is telling you to head there.”
‘Window…’
For a moment, I almost asked, “What window?” but I managed to catch myself and let out a small chuckle.
Seeing me laugh, the old man grinned back and gave my shoulder a hearty pat.
“Let’s head down now. Thanks for humoring an old man’s ramblings. I appreciate it.”
“No, thank you for telling me all this, sir.”
After escorting the old man back to his room, I looked around the dimly lit living room.
The leftover wild greens must’ve been saved for tomorrow, as a basket full of mountain herbs and mushrooms was piled on the living room table.
Right next to it, on a three-seater sofa, lay Gamja, sprawled out comfortably.
“Gamja, you sleeping there?”
“Gu-ek.”
“Alright. Wake me if something comes up.”
“Gu-ek.”
“Goodnight.”
“Gu-eeeek.”
After greeting Gamja, I stepped into the room where my bedding was laid out.
Inside, just like yesterday, Kang Do-jin was lying against the wall, and Ha-yul was in the center. Both of them were wide awake, chatting with bright eyes.
Bamtol wasn’t around. Guess they’re sleeping in the other room tonight.
“Hyung! Come lie down quick. I’ve got something to say.”
“Alright, alright. What’s up?”
“Let’s go fishing together tomorrow.”
“Fishing?”
Does Ha-yul even know how to fish? Wait, do I need to know how to fish? What do I do? I don’t know how!
For a moment, I panicked and couldn’t respond, but thankfully, Ha-yul continued.
“Do-jin says he knows how to fish. We decided to learn. If we catch some fish, maybe we can use them for that quest you got, hyung.”
“Oh, really? Hmm, that could work. Do-jin, you know how to fish?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty good at it.”
‘Yeah, figures.’
For some reason, I had a feeling he’d be good at it. Maybe it’s a stereotype, but the Kang siblings seem like they’d be good at everything.
“Let’s check the weather in the morning first. I heard it might rain soon.”
“It was pretty cloudy earlier… Do-jin, can we fish if it rains?”
“You can’t fish in the rain. The streams or rivers swell up quickly, and it’s dangerous.”
“Then what do we do if it rains? Pick more wild greens?”
“Ha-yul’s getting pretty good at picking greens now.”
“I’m basically a pro at it.”
I couldn’t help but burst out laughing at Ha-yul’s cheeky response. Ha-yul, clearly pleased with himself, let out a small “heehee” laugh.
Meanwhile, Kang Do-jin stared at me with a look that said, “What’s so funny?”
Ignoring Kang Do-jin’s puzzled expression, I tucked Ha-yul in properly. Ha-yul always kicks off his blanket while sleeping, so I have to check on him in the middle of the night to cover him back up. I wonder if he’ll do it tonight too.
“Hyung.”
“Yeah?”
“Tomorrow, no matter what, I want to do stuff with you.”
It felt like he’d been staying up just to say that. Ha-yul’s voice was already heavy with sleep.
I propped myself up on my elbow, lying on my side, and gently patted Ha-yul’s stomach over the blanket.
“Alright. Tomorrow, we’ll do everything together.”
“It’s a promise…”
“I promise.”
“Okay… Heehee. Goodnight, hyung.”
“Goodnight, Ha-yul.”
As we exchanged warm goodnights, Kang Do-jin, across the room, scrunched up his face. The way he looked at me was like he’d just seen something disgusting.
‘What? Why? What’s with that look?’
I couldn’t bring myself to ask. I feel like I’d lose to him in a fight. Honestly, I’m probably the weakest in our group. Maybe even weaker than Bamtol.
After a few more pats, Ha-yul fell asleep in no time, breathing softly.
I gazed at the sleeping Ha-yul for a while.
Ever since we arrived at the old man’s place, I’ve been out and about a lot, unintentionally. It’s probably making Ha-yul anxious.
He’s still not used to this unfamiliar place, and the only “hyung” he has keeps leaving him behind to go off somewhere.
‘I can’t help it, Ha-yul. Your hyung’s still not pulling his weight.’
If something happens, I might not even be able to protect Ha-yul—I could be the first to fall behind.
Even if my stats give me more stamina, my mindset hasn’t changed, so it’s hard to act boldly.
The one silver lining is that, after today, I can definitely feel my stamina improving.
Despite staying up late last night and starting the day early this morning, I’m not that tired yet. Back in the day, I’d have passed out by now.
‘Well, I might wake up with a fever tomorrow morning.’
As I patted Ha-yul’s stomach and let my thoughts wander, I kept feeling a piercing gaze from across the room.
‘Is he not sleeping? Does he have something to say?’
Unable to ignore the intense stare any longer, I finally spoke up.
“Ahem. Do-jin, you’re not sleeping?”
“I should.”
“Sleep while you can.”
“Yeah.”
“Hmm… Got something to say?”
“……”
At my question, Kang Do-jin’s gaze shifted to Ha-yul’s stomach—specifically, to my hand patting it.
“How old do you think he is, hyung?”
“Haha, age doesn’t matter. To me, he’s always a baby.”
“How much of an age gap is there, really?”
“That’s just how big brothers are with their little siblings.”
“No, they’re not.”
Kang Do-jin’s face scrunched up even more. Yeah, the Kang siblings definitely don’t have that kind of affectionate vibe.
To clarify, it’s just the vibe between them that’s like that. In reality, the two of them probably care for each other quite a bit.
Of course, I didn’t feel that way just because they’re siblings or blood-related.
How many families, even those bound by blood, live worse than strangers? Judging that they care for each other just because they’re family would be a hasty generalization.
But there’s always a certain vibe that flows between people.
From what I could see, the Kang siblings seemed to care for each other at least as much as most siblings do. Maybe even more deeply than that.
“Don’t siblings with a big age gap usually feel closer? You and your sister get along well, don’t you?”
“We get along, but my sister doesn’t dote on me like I’m some kind of big brother. When I see how you treat Ha-yul, it’s like you’re dealing with a kindergarten kid or something, even though the age gap isn’t that big.”
“!!”
His specific example caught me off guard, and I stopped patting Ha-yul’s stomach, turning to face Kang Do-jin.
‘Is he saying this because he knows something? No, that can’t be.’
I gave an awkward laugh and resumed patting Ha-yul’s stomach, but feeling a bit uneasy about changing the topic so abruptly, I added, as if making an excuse:
“It’s hard to explain in words. If you had a younger sibling, you might understand better, but to me, Ha-yul will always be my little brother. No matter how old he gets, that won’t change.”
“……”
“Parents often say their kids always feel like babies, even when they’re grown. It’s kind of like that.”
“…Sure, let’s go with that. By the way, hyung, you okay?”
“Huh? Okay with what?”
“……”
What’s he talking about? A few things that weren’t okay came to mind, but since I wasn’t sure what he meant, I stayed quiet.
Kang Do-jin adjusted his position, closed his eyes, and said:
“Nothing. I just meant, aren’t you tired? You should sleep too, hyung.”
“Oh, right. Goodnight, Do-jin.”
“Yeah, you too.”
Not long after, Kang Do-jin’s breathing slowed down.
I adjusted Ha-yul’s blanket one more time for no reason, then lay on my side, blinking into the darkness.
No matter how hard I try, when it comes to Ha-yul, I can’t help but treat him like a little kid, regardless of his size.
Did that seem strange to Kang Do-jin?
But to me, Ha-yul really is just my little brother.
Even now, he could be a high schooler, but to me, he’s still just a kid.
I held back from saying it out loud because it might upset him, but honestly, just because Kang Do-jin is the same age as Ha-yul, he looks like a kid to me too.
‘Am I just too stuck in my biases?’
Of course, I don’t know what’s going on in his head, but officially, he’s the same age as Ha-yul, right?
When I look at Kang Do-jin, he seems to act too mature for his age.
No, wait. It’s not that he’s acting mature—he is mature. I’ll give him that.
He’s out here slaying monsters more calmly than I ever could… and he doesn’t make a fuss about anything…
“…….”
‘Ugh, enough thinking. Let’s sleep.’
I took one last look at Ha-yul, then closed my eyes and, thankfully, fell asleep quickly.
I think I had several dreams, but none of them were worth remembering.
★★★
As the old man and Kang Do-hee predicted, it started pouring rain from the morning.
And this wasn’t just any rain—it was an absolute deluge, coming down like crazy.
The downpour was so intense that the tall grass outside in the front yard, reaching up to about waist height, was completely flattened, unable to lift its head.
“Good thing we gathered those wild greens yesterday.”
“Seriously. With rain like this, is there any chance of a landslide?”
“The mountains around here have plenty of trees, so landslides shouldn’t be an issue.”
“That’s a relief, sir.”
“Hyung, hyung, we’ve got a problem! We’re almost done preparing the greens. What do we do when we’re finished?”
“Oh, don’t you worry. We’ll do some laundry and clean up in the meantime.”
“Laundry in the rain?”
“We’ll fill the bathtub and stomp on the clothes to wash them! If we could use electricity, I’d run the washing machine, but when it rains like this, it’ll last a while, and the sun won’t come out. So, we just wash by hand and hang them indoors.”
“Ohh…”
In other words, we’d have to conserve electricity for a while.
Come to think of it, all the clothes we brought were dirty and piled up for washing.
Thanks to that, we were all wearing the vibrant, patterned stretchy pants the old man gave us, along with promotional T-shirts covered in various logos and bright pink kimchi-making vests with flashy floral patterns.
Kang Do-hee and Kang Do-jin were dressed in similar outfits, but maybe because those siblings have such serious faces, they looked like they were wearing suits to work, no matter what they had on.
In contrast, Ha-yul looked like a kid who came to visit his grandma’s house, happily wearing his kimchi-making outfit.
‘Definitely. Seeing him like this, Ha-yul looks so innocent.’
Ha-yul’s always been quick to smile, and with the corners of his mouth naturally turned up, he looks like he’s smiling even when he’s just sitting there.
On the other hand, the Kang siblings both have lips that form a straight line. That’s why it’s so entertaining to see Kang Do-jin and Ha-yul side by side.
Sometimes Kang Do-jin seems a bit overwhelmed by Ha-yul’s overwhelming cheerfulness, and in those moments, they look like typical kids their age, which is cute and funny.
I glanced around at everyone sitting around the dwindling pile of wild greens. Each person’s focused expression was unique.
The sound of the rain grew heavier, but since we were indoors, it was actually kind of pleasant to listen to.
‘It’s peaceful and nice. Once we finish preparing the greens, we’ll do laundry and clean.’
As I thought about the day’s tasks, it almost felt like we weren’t in some apocalyptic world but just visiting the countryside for a normal getaway.
But then, all of a sudden, Gamja and Bamtol whipped their heads toward the living room window at the same time.
At their reaction, everyone’s hands stopped as if on cue, and with lips tightly shut, we all turned our heads in the same direction.
“…….”
“…….”
But even after a while, there was no sound other than the rain. The map didn’t show any issues either.
‘Did a wild animal come down this far? Or maybe it’s a person from this world?’
Not knowing exactly why the two were so focused on the outside, I turned to Jubi-young, hoping for some translation.
But then—
—!!
From what seemed like quite a distance away, a massive, unidentifiable roar echoed through the air.
For some reason, that roar felt oddly familiar. It was a sound I’d heard before—not in real life, but…
“What the heck? Is there a T-Rex roaming around out there or something?”
At Kang Do-hee’s muttering, Ha-yul, Kang Do-jin, and I exchanged looks, our eyes screaming, “We totally get that vibe!”
‘No way, right? That can’t be it. Even a fantasy novel would get flak for going that far.’
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