Chapter 19
"You three did well. Get some rest."
The three drones returned with mana stones and items.
I told the drones to rest comfortably in the hangar, then lay down on the bed.
At first, I tried to go to sleep like that—
"Has this become a habit..."
Since using my phone before bed had become a habit, I couldn't fall asleep, so I eventually took out my smartphone and accessed the Survivor Gallery.
---
[Title: Is the Yeouido area still safe?]
I'm hiding on the outskirts of Seoul with my wife and child, but our food is running out.
I heard that soldiers and Awakened are driving the monsters out around Yeouido, making it safe. Are there any requirements for entering?
Will they accept people who aren't Awakened?
---
[Title: Sharing the situation at Incheon Airport.]
We've successfully cleared out the inside of the airport.
The bridge to Yeongjongdo has been cut off, so it seems like it'll be difficult to get in from the mainland.
We've put up barricades inside and around the runways, and things are operating in a fairly organized manner.
Those living on Yeongjongdo, take note.
---
"A safe zone..."
I scrolled down, reading the posts with interest.
Right after the world ended, everyone was too busy surviving, but humans are creatures of adaptation.
Awakened who had opened their Status Windows and gained skills began taking center stage and establishing safe zones one by one.
Places like Seoul's Yeouido and the War Memorial of Korea in Yongsan seemed to be steadily expanding their safe zones, with the remaining military forces and large numbers of civilians joining forces.
---
[Comments]
AnsanMan: I'm jealous of you Seoul bastards... Fuck, do only people who have something get to survive even here?
ㅇㅇ: I have an ability that waters the plants around me as much as they need. Will you take me in?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ: LOL, a sprinkler counts.
ㅇㅇ: Isn't there a safe zone in Daejeon?
Angler Kang: This is our chance, so please, let's band together with the gallery users living in the provinces.
---
The situation in the provinces was nowhere near as easy as it was in Seoul.
Even the places called safe zones were mostly just places where people who had awakened by chance had gathered through personal connections and were protecting a large mart or apartment complex.
"Everyone really is banding together to find a way to survive."
I stroked my chin.
Unlike me, who traveled around by train, moving around was practically a suicidal act for ordinary survivors, one that required them to risk their lives.
That's probably why the Gallery had so many posts asking which safe zones were best to live in and which routes were safe for getting there.
And whenever the general subject of the posts shifted, the trade posts naturally tended to follow along.
The trade tab where mana stones and food were usually posted.
New kinds of trade posts began appearing there—ones I hadn't seen before.
---
[Looking for Awakened willing to travel together from Hongik University Station to National Assembly Station!]
- I'll give you items worth around 300 credits! Recruiting up to 3 people.
[Awakened willing to help establish a safe zone.]
- Food, equipment, and lodging provided. Only Awakened with combat-related abilities.
[Is there anyone who wants to go to Yeouido together?]
- I have a combat-capable class, but I'm a little scared to go alone.
- I have plenty of food and can provide drinks.
---
"Hmm..."
I muttered without taking my eyes off the monitor.
Once safe zones began appearing, the demand from people who wanted to move to them exploded.
But outside was a monster-infested den of horrors.
Naturally, people who were weak in combat tried to hire powerful Awakened to protect them.
As I read through those posts, a thought naturally came to me.
"If it were my train..."
If it were my train, I could solve their concerns with ease.
But I felt a little uneasy.
I was uneasy about the possibility of information about my train leaking—and about letting people onto it at all.
Before, I had avoided requests like that, telling myself I was too busy just surviving on my own, but I didn't feel that way anymore.
"...Was I always this softhearted?"
I wanted to help.
I took my eyes off the trade board and sighed.
At this moment, with the world destroyed and people's circumstances pushed to the limit, was it really okay to let strangers into my train?
What if I went to the trouble of helping them, only for them to see the train's facilities, get greedy, and try to hijack it?
"Still, it leaves a bad taste..."
Just as I was reluctantly about to give up, a memory flashed through my mind.
I remembered a modification I'd completely ignored back when I was delighted to find a few lowest-grade mana stones, because it offered too little for the cost.
It was the option listed below Add Train Car.
I immediately brought up the panel in the cockpit.
[Modification: Add Train Car]
[Standard Train Car], [Standard Cargo Car], [Standard Passenger Car]
Without hesitation, I tapped the detailed description of the Standard Passenger Car.
I read through the text unfolding before my eyes.
[Standard Passenger Car]
- Passengers aboard the passenger car cannot cause any harm to the conductor or the train's facilities. The conductor may forcibly expel passengers from the train.
- When a passenger gets off, their satisfaction with using the train is measured in points.
- Additional modifications are unlocked according to the accumulated satisfaction.
"...So that's what this was."
I let out a hollow laugh.
There was a safety measure that blocked the possibility I had been most worried about.
On top of that, the idea that hidden modifications would be unlocked according to customer satisfaction piqued my curiosity.
It felt as if the skill itself were pointing me in a particular direction.
As if it were telling me to transport survivors and help them.
"All right, safety's guaranteed... In that case..."
I returned to the trade posts.
As I scrolled past countless posts, my finger stopped at one of them.
---
[Title: Please halp, I'm in the bathroom of a PC café near Siheung Station]
Please save us. I'm twelve years old, and my little sister is seven.
I came out to look for Mom and hid in a shopping center, but a huge wolf-like thing came in, so I came into the bathroom.
My little sister is crying so much that I'm covering her mouth, and I'm writing with one hand, so there are lots of typos.
We're at the Siheung Royal PC café.
---
"..."
The reward field was empty, and the spacing and spelling were a mess.
It wasn't even a post asking to be taken somewhere.
But I couldn't take my eyes off the screen.
"Siheung, huh..."
As it happened, it was near where I was.
Of course, Siheung was fairly large, so I'd have to look a little more to find the exact location—but
"Find the place called Siheung Royal PC café."
At my words, the drones that had been resting slowly rose into the sky.
With the drones on the move, they would be able to find the place quickly.
"Sorry. I'll let you rest properly once this is over."
What would the old me have done?
I might have turned away, saying I had no room to help other people.
"Now that I have enough to live on, I'm getting more and more meddlesome... Yeah, it's close..."
I muttered as I rubbed my face with both hands.
Right, I could earn money later by having the drones run dungeons.
It was this close; if I didn't save them, I'd only have restless dreams.
I rationalized my sentimental decision that way and brought up the system window.
[Would you like to add a Standard Passenger Car?]
[Cost: 100 days' worth of fuel, 30 lowest-grade mana stones]
"Yes."
[Approval complete. Car 3 will be connected to the rear of the train.]
Rumble—!
The entire train shuddered.
A dazzling mass of light poured out behind the cargo hangar in Car 2, and a huge passenger car clad in sleek, pitch-black armor soon materialized and connected to the train as if by magic.
I immediately got up from the cockpit, passed through Car 2, and opened the door to the newly created Car 3.
"It's big. And... it's almost too nice."
An exclamation escaped me the moment the door opened.
Since it was called a passenger car, I had imagined something on the level of an ordinary subway car.
The floor was covered in thick, sound-absorbing carpet, while comfortable-looking velvet seats lined both sides.
The seats could be reclined and used like beds, and simple supplies such as water and tissues had been placed in one corner of the car.
"...At least no one's satisfaction will drop because of the seats."
I took out my smartphone.
Then I sent a whisper to the twelve-year-old who must have been waiting in despair for someone to contact him.
[Hold your little sister's hand tight and wait exactly 30 minutes inside the bathroom.]
[Big brother will come.]
After sending the message, I returned to the cockpit of Car 1 and realized that something was wrong.
"...Ah, right. I'm not a big brother, am I?"
Just then, the drone sent a notification saying it had found the location.
The sniper drone seemed to have found the target from long range.
There was only one more station to go.
I forcefully pushed the lever in the cockpit upward.
"Let's hurry."
***
"Sob... Big brother..."
In the PC café on the second floor of an old commercial building, dark as pitch after the power went out,
in the farthest stall at the back of the women's restroom, twelve-year-old Jiwoo urgently covered the mouth of his seven-year-old little sister, Sua, with one trembling hand.
"Shh, shh. Sua, don't make a sound. Please..."
Jiwoo's voice was trembling too, tinged with tears.
The chill from the cold tiled floor seeped through his thin pants, but what was driving Jiwoo crazy right now wasn't the cold or the stench of the bathroom.
Grrrrr—
On the other side of the thin door, he could hear the breathing of a beast.
A huge wolf monster that had been prowling outside in search of food had crawled into the PC café.
Jiwoo covered Sua's mouth with one hand and gripped his phone with the other.
A site he had happened to enter after receiving a notification.
Many people capable of killing monsters had gathered there.
'Big brother... said he was coming...'
Right after he had laboriously posted on the Survivor Gallery using his dwindling battery, a reply had miraculously come.
A message telling him to wait with his little sister for just thirty minutes.
"Just 30 minutes... Wait just 30 minutes, Sua... okay?"
His little sister still couldn't stop crying, but Jiwoo himself managed to hold back his tears.
Because big brother would be coming in about thirty minutes.