Survivors (4)
I was carefully observing the walking trail, hoping they would appear again.
[An unauthorized entity is attempting to enter.]
"Huh?"
I tilted my head at the sudden alarm, but an uneasy thought struck me.
'Could there still be goblins left?'
I grew worried that something might have happened to Choi Hyung-jun.
'Eye of the Absolute.'
I immediately used my skill to check the emergency exit.
And there, I saw people in familiar attire.
"Huh? It says we can't get in."
"What do you mean?"
"Don't you see? A weird message popped up in front of me."
"What? Then how did that guy get in?"
"I don't know either."
Six men and women, each holding a different weapon.
'It's them!'
I didn't expect to encounter them this soon.
'They're more capable than I thought.'
Choi Hyung-jun had done an even better job than I expected.
As I deactivated my Eye of the Absolute skill to greet them, a new notification appeared before my eyes—along with photos of the six people I had just seen.
[Entities that meet the conditions for citizenship have approached the vicinity of your residence.]
[Would you like to offer them citizenship?]
This revealed a new fact.
'The process has changed from granting citizenship to offering it.'
Unlike Choi Hyung-jun's family, who had been within my territory from the start, these people were outside of it.
'If people are included during the territory expansion process, I can forcibly grant them citizenship. But in cases like this, they are given a choice.'
An offer.
That meant they could decide whether to become citizens or not.
Which also meant…
'They could refuse.'
How could I make sure that rejecting citizenship wouldn't even cross their minds?
As I was contemplating the solution—
♬♪♬♩~
A ringtone echoed.
The moment I heard it, an idea came to me.
'This is it.'
I needed to make accepting citizenship feel like nothing at all.
If that happened, they would accept it naturally.
'Grant a quest.'
[Citizen Choi Hyung-jun is already undertaking a quest.]
[Would you like to reset the quest?]
'Yes.'
[Please reset the quest.]
The updated quest was simple.
'Serve a meal to six guests.'
[The quest has been updated.]
At the same time, I checked the situation outside through the wall pad.
Choi Hyung-jun, who had been pressing the doorbell, read the updated quest and tilted his head before walking toward the emergency exit.
Through the speaker on the wall pad, I could hear their conversation.
(If it's okay with you, may we invite you to our home for a meal?)
(Huh? But we can't even get in right now.)
At that moment, I silently gave the command.
'Offer citizenship to all six of them.'
[Offering citizenship to Ha Dong-geon, Kang Deok-soo, Kim Ga-young, Yoo Hye-rin, Kim Geon, and Moon Byung-ho.]
Having played my hand, I focused on the wall pad screen.
(Oh! The invisible wall disappeared!)
A cheerful voice rang out as a well-built man stepped into the territory.
Judging by the baseball bat in his hand, he seemed to be the one who had finished off the last of the goblin horde.
Then, one after another—
(It's real? As soon as I got citizenship, I could walk right in?)
All six of them accepted citizenship and entered the territory.
At that moment—
[The number of citizens has reached 10.]
[Experience points and settlement funds earned by citizens increase by 10%.]
A new notification appeared, bringing a smile to my face.
'Bonus experience points and bonus funds?'
The timing couldn't have been better—a new batch of monster hunters had joined, and I had earned a high-quality buff in the process.
I welcomed it with open arms.
'Citizen management.'
The profiles of the six newcomers were immediately satisfying to look at.
□ Ha Dong-geon (Trust: 19) (Lv. 23)
□ Kang Deok-soo (Trust: 28) (Lv. 13)
□ Kim Ga-young (Trust: 17) (Lv. 17)
□ Yoo Hye-rin (Trust: 30) (Lv. 10)
□ Kim Geon (Trust: 15) (Lv. 11)
□ Moon Byung-ho (Trust: 11) (Lv. 10)
······
······
Current Population (10 / 600)
As expected from a party that had annihilated a goblin horde, their levels were on another scale.
Surprisingly, all of them had double-digit levels, with one even reaching level 23.
'Level 23… that's the same as the Kellecan I fought a week ago.'
The unusually high level made sense the moment I checked his citizen information.
『Name: Ha Dong-geon (Lv. 23)
Trust: 19
Awakening Ability: Baseball Pitch
EXP Share Rate: 0%
Settlement Fund Share Rate: 0%
★ Grant Quest Expel』
'He's an Awakened.'
Let's focus on the awakened abilities. A brief description of his ability came to mind.
Baseball Throw (Grade D)
Consumes stamina to triple the power of a thrown ball.
The man who first threw a ball at the goblin horde must have been Ha Dong-geon.
'So that's why the goblins died instantly.'
Anyone who has held a real baseball knows that it's almost as hard as a rock.
If a skill could triple its power, it could certainly become a lethal weapon.
Most of the trust levels were low, which was a bit unfortunate, but that could be improved over time.
'Set the experience distribution rate for all six new members to 70%.'
[Settings applied.]
There was no need to touch the settlement funds.
It wasn't like the citizens had anywhere to spend money, so there was no reason to distribute it.
'Done.'
Now, all that was left was to assign them monster-hunting quests and reap the experience and money from a distance.
It was essentially automated hunting.
Of course, he had no intention of treating them as mere machines to generate income.
At the right time, he planned to interact with them properly.
After all, they might be the key to rescuing his family.
'Before that, let's see what kind of people they are.'
Just as he was about to activate the Eye of the Absolute skill—
[Citizen Ha Dong-geon's trust level has increased.]
Out of nowhere, a notification appeared, stating that trust had increased.
'…What?'
He hadn't even spoken to them face-to-face yet, so how was their trust in him rising?
[Citizen Kim Ga-young's trust level has increased.]
[Citizen Yoo Hye-rin's trust level has increased.]
"Huh."
It seemed like he needed to see for himself what was happening.
"Come in."
"Excuse us."
Ha Dong-geon's party, suddenly invited for dinner, entered Choi Hyung-joon's home in a group.
Hearing the door lock's beeping, Park Hye-won, who had come to the entrance to greet them, was startled.
"Honey? What's going on?"
"I'll explain later. Can you prepare some food?"
"Food? I'd have to cook from scratch…"
"Please. It's his request."
"It'll take a bit, but I'll get it ready."
At the mention of 'him,' Park Hye-won didn't question further and went to prepare the meal.
Watching her, Ha Dong-geon asked,
"Who is this person?"
"Hmm… Well, to be honest, I don't really know."
"You don't know?"
"Yes. Other than the fact that he lives in the neighboring apartment…"
Hearing this, Ha Dong-geon glanced toward the front door, deep in thought.
'So it was the other apartment.'
The reason his party came here in the first place was because of the strange man who had been throwing down ramen and seaweed from the top floor.
They had come hoping to get more supplies.
"He's a mysterious person. As I mentioned earlier, he's the reason we have electricity. He also has the ability to create water and tangerines."
"Hm."
Ha Dong-geon carefully observed the porch light shining down on him.
'Is it some kind of supernatural power?'
The day those abilities appeared in the world, he had also awakened his own.
There was no rule saying others couldn't have as well.
'That's an incredible ability.'
Now he understood why the man had thrown them food.
'There's no way his ability is limited to just water and tangerines. He must be able to create ramen and seaweed too.'
A thought crossed his mind—what if this man could create anything he wanted?
'I need to align myself with him.'
In times like these, survival depended on following those with power.
Providing electricity, creating food and water—
In this world, such abilities were nothing short of miraculous.
Compared to that, his own throwing ability was insignificant.
As he pondered ways to approach the man and showcase his own usefulness, Choi Hyung-joon spoke.
"Since dinner will take a while, would you like to take a quick shower?"
The ones who reacted most strongly were Kim Ga-young and Yoo Hye-rin.
"A shower?!"
"We can bathe?!"
They knew about the electricity, but running water was an entirely different matter.
'Well, if he can create water, it makes sense.'
Choi Hyung-joon gave a warm smile and replied,
"Yes. We even have hot water."
"Hot water?!"
"That, too, is his blessing."
Kim Ga-young and Yoo Hye-rin spoke in turn.
"Move aside! I'm going to wash up first!"
"T-Then, I'll go next!"
From the side, Choi Hyung-jun spoke quietly.
"There are two bathrooms, so you can both wash up at the same time."
"Awesome!"
"One of you can use this one, and the other can use the bathroom in the master bedroom. I'll show you the way."
"T-Thank you."
There was a reason why Kim Ga-young and Yoo Hye-rin were trying so hard to act cheerful.
They probably wanted to change the heavy atmosphere, even just a little.
Lately, their situation had been overwhelmingly grim.
As the two women disappeared, only four men remained in the entryway.
Kim Geon muttered.
"…Senior, do you think that guy is also an esper?"
Ha Dong-geon nodded.
"Probably. And his ability seems to be on a whole different level compared to mine."
Hearing that, Kang Deok-soo slung an arm around Ha Dong-geon's shoulder and spoke loudly.
"Don't get intimidated, man! One good whack from my club, and—"
"You idiot. We need to get on his good side, not piss him off."
"Huh? Is that so?"
"Please, I'm begging you. Just do nothing and stay put."
"Ahaha. Okay, okay."
Ha Dong-geon let out a small sigh before speaking.
"Anyway, our goal here is to get as much food as possible. Don't screw up, and try to make a good impression. Got it?"
"Okay, okay."
"…Yes."
"..."
One man didn't respond to Ha Dong-geon's words.
Ha Dong-geon placed a hand on his shoulder and called his name.
"Byungho."
That finally got a reaction.
"Oh—Yes, hyung. Sorry, I didn't hear you."
"I'm sorry. This is all because of me."
Moon Byung-ho forced a smile, trying to shake off his dark expression.
"No, hyung. You didn't do anything wrong."
"Haah… I'm sorry. If I hadn't invited everyone over for a housewarming party—"
"No, hyung. I came because I wanted to."
The reason Ha Dong-geon's party had gathered was for the housewarming of newlyweds Ha Dong-geon and Kim Ga-young.
While they were in the middle of preparing for the party, monsters appeared, and the world collapsed.
Naturally, they ended up trapped together in Ha Dong-geon's home.
"Your grandmother will be safe. I'm sure of it."
"…Yes."
Everyone was worried about their families, but Moon Byung-ho had more reason than anyone to be concerned.
His grandmother, his only family, was elderly and had mobility issues, relying on him for care.
But now, he was unable to return home.
That day, when the monsters appeared, they had all promised to stop by Byung-ho's house first.
But for the past ten days, every attempt to venture out had been blocked by goblins.
The reason they had become so skilled at dealing with goblins was simply because of experience.
"Once we get food here, let's all head to your grandmother's house together."
"…Yes. Thank you, hyung."
Moon Byung-ho's voice trembled violently.
Because he knew.
That it was already too late.
Ten days had passed since that day.
Even if his grandmother had miraculously avoided a monster attack, the chances of her surviving were slim.
Clench.
What made it even more infuriating was that his house was close enough to be seen from Ha Dong-geon's home.
Yet, every attempt had failed.
The area was swarming with goblins, appearing in groups of dozens at a time.
"Since it's so close, if we work together, we can make it. Just hold on a little longer."
"Thank you so much, hyung. But…"
I should stop now.
It's okay now.
He wanted to say it.
He knew he was being a burden to everyone.
But he couldn't bring himself to say it aloud.
The words lodged in his throat like thorns, hurting him.
A heavy silence settled over them.
No one spoke.
Then—
Click.
"Huh?"
"What?"
"What was that?"
The sound of the front door opening made everyone tense up, gripping their baseball bats.
Ha Dong-geon also pulled a baseball from his pocket.
However, the moment they saw the man stepping through the door, their bodies froze.
'W-What is this presence…?'
The man looked ordinary.
He wasn't particularly tall or muscular.
His features were gentle, his skin unblemished by the sun, exuding a calm aura.
And yet—
It felt as if a giant had stepped through the door.
As if a massive predator had locked its jaws around their throats.
Their instincts, sharpened by countless brushes with death, screamed at them.
Ha Dong-geon immediately understood.
'This man…'
The lives of him and his comrades were entirely in this man's hands.
If he wanted, he could kill them all in an instant.
Then, the man spoke.
"I'll help you."
With just those words, a glimmer of hope sparked in Moon Byung-ho's heart.
And so, as if mesmerized, he nodded.
'Maybe…'
Maybe this man—
Maybe he could pull them out of this pit of despair.
An unfounded, but unshakable belief took root in his chest.