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Translator: Asta
Editor: Aaghna
“Follow .”
At those words, Poor Man followed like a child. I could feel him scanning everything I did as he followed . Is it because he’s actually seen soone he’d only heard of? Well, I also feel the sa right now. Poor Man was a famous user because of his unique concept on the streaming site that I used. And sadly, he was more popular than .
I looted the weapons and backpacks from the dead people, then we moved to a suitable two-story house. Once inside, I asked Poor Man to sit and gave him a bottle of water.
“For now, drink so water and calm down.”
“…Yes.” He breathed heavily, then drank water and coughed. I watched him without saying a word. His breathing finally stabilized after maybe two or three minutes passed. His eyes filled with fear darted around the room before finally looking into my eyes.
I asked him.
“You don’t have to answer anything you don’t want to answer. Poor Man, right?”
“Yes. My real na is Eum Jiman. That… that voice…”
“I am I Love Gimbap. My real na is Kang Seongho. Let ask you this, what did I do for a living before?”
If he’s indeed the real Poor Man, there’s no way he wouldn’t know this.
“You used to run a snack bar in Busan.” He answered right away.
Bingo.
I slowly sat down on the floor. “Huh, I didn’t think we would et like this.”
“ too… I thought I Love Gimbap-nim would be with a lot of people…”
“I had no choice but to be alone. It is because of my unique skill.”
“My unique skill is Bio-friendly. You roughly know about it, right? Plants grow well around and animals chase after .”
When he told about his unique skill, I was a little worried.
Will I be able to tell Poor Man my secret? He seed quite docile and didn’t seem like the kind of person who would blabber about it to anyone. Moreover, I also have a deep connection with him. In a way, it could be said that he was even closer to than Rapwi or Duck.
“Jiman will be the first person I ever tell my unique skill to.” I stated.
“Oh…” He looked around for a mont. “I think it would be better not to say anything.”
“Why? Are you going to tell other people about it?”
“No, I would never do that! It is said that the birds hear the words of the day, and the rats hear the words of the night.”
“There is no one around. And I am saying it because I think it would be better for you to know my unique skill. If you don’t want to hear it, I won’t tell you.”
“…”
“Ugh… I’m curious. Afterall, no one knows the unique skill I Love Gimbap-nim possesses.” Jiman’s eyes shook and spoke.
“Yes. No one knows, including Rapwi. Duck seems to have noticed it, though. But she didn’t ask anything.”
“Have you two t?”
“I t with Duck, but I have yet to et Rapwi.”
“Thank God you’ve t them.”
“Why is that?”
“The three of you were close, weren’t you? I just thought about what would happen if there were so conflicts between the three of you in this situation.”
Was he worried that we might fight? Wow… He’s a kind person, which is rare in today’s world. He’s the extre opposite of … I’m not sure if we’ll be a good fit.
Anyway, I decided to reveal my character to him. Which ans, from now on, he had no choice but to stick with .
“My Unique Skill is… to open a dinsional door.”
“A dinsional door? Like Portal? Where does it lead you to?”
“I think it will be better for you to witness it directly rather than hearing it from my mouth…” But well, since it’s transparent, he wouldn’t really be able to see it. He could still feel it directly, though.
“Open the portal.” I called.
“Dingo.”
Jiman’s eyes widened as he saw Dingo suddenly pop out of nowhere.
“Gimbap-nim, how did this happen?”
“There is a portal there. Its size is about one big door… but no one but can see it because of its additional invisibility effect.”
As I told Jiman the size of the portal, he touched it and was instantly startled. “Did I just touch sothing?”
“That’s the dinsional door. It’s exclusive, so I’m the only one who can enter.” I demonstrated it by entering the portal before returning with a canned food—sothing which no longer exists on Earth—in hand. The can soon crumbled and the contents dropped into the floor, but I don’t think it’s a waste since it did a good job of conveying information to Jiman.
“There is a forest inside. Do you know what kind of place it is?”
“A forest without Corrosive Disease… Ah, is that place, perhaps, a farming dungeon?”
“That’s right. A farming dungeon which opens on a temporary basis. I have unlimited access to such dungeons. I also made a shelter inside.”
“So that’s why Gimbap-nim hid his identity…”
“If it was a combat-related unique skill, I would have told other people. But this ability is a bit…”
Jiman nodded vigorously at my words. “I would have done the sa if I was you. You did a good job of not giving out information. There were scary n who ca to when I disclosed so information.”
“Scary n?”
It can’t be.
The governnt led by President Jang Won-taek I knew, was the kind of people who people faithfully carried out their duties. They shut down dangerous facilities and built a ti shelter to prepare for the future. Why would such people try to harm soone who gives them information?
When I told Jiman that maybe they were trying to find and protect him, he said it was absolutely not the case. “Their atmosphere was strange. I can’t explain it, but I felt like they were not ordinary people…”
“Is that so?” If that’s the case, then it seems like there’s another group ford by so people from the governnt. It seems like I would have to be careful when I decide to spill so information in the future.
While the two of us were having a serious conversation, Dingo lay beside Jiman and showed him his belly. Dingo, who didn’t care about anyone but , just did that.
“Bio-friendly is really great. That guy, even though he looks like a husky, he’s actually a wolf.”
“A wolf?”
“Yeah. His race is called silver wolf, and its adult size is as big as a bull. So, I am thinking of an excuse to explain his existence to people later.”
“Ah… looks like Gimbap-nim’s world is filled with nature inside.”
“Well, since I haven’t explored much, I can’t be sure. But as of now, there are forests, lakes, seas and mountains there…”
“Is it dangerous inside?” Jiman instantly showed interest in the forest inside the portal. I roughly described what I went through. From the very first ti I stepped into the forest, how I ran away after eting goblins and owl bears, rebuilt the cave and used it as a shelter to store my supplies and installed barbed wire fences around it. When my story reached the orc and werewolf part, Poor man, Jiman, closed his eyes tightly.
“As expected, it is a dangerous forest…”
“It’s still worth taking the risk to explore it. There are a lot of things there that can’t be found in real life.”
“I guess that’s right. It’s a pity that no one else can enter except for Gimbap-nim. Ah no, if soone else gets in, it will be problematic.”
“Yeah, it can cause jealousy. So people can go in and so can’t. If the portal was not for exclusive use and was known to the world, I would have died long ago.”
“That is likely to happen…”
“I am telling you this because you are you.”
“I will never tell anyone!” He vowed again. At that mont, soone’s stomach rumbled.
I got up and said, “Let’s go to Jiman’s hideout now.”
“I don’t have much to bring…”
“Hm? Still, you must have gathered so things.”
Jiman shook his head without thinking much. “No. There is really nothing other than bottled water. My hideout is in a fishing village.”
“I guess you ran away from the bastards and lived there?”
“Yes.”
“Then give it up and just co with .”
“I don’t know if I can do that…”
“You can. I didn’t ask you to co and just live off . There is a pier in front of my hideout, so you should throw so traps there, do so fishing, and build a vegetable garden.”
Jiman’s expression brightened at my words.
Is he happy that he has sothing to do?
“And the most important thing is, since I already told you my secret, I have no intention of letting you go easily. In a way, this is also confinent.” I patted his back.
“I, I am fine. Please lock up.”
“You are speaking dangerous words.”
So, it seems that Jiman had made his decision. There’s no need to stay in this place full of corpses any longer. When I took the lead, Jiman followed closely. It felt like I had a little brother. A good-looking and good-natured little brother who could only be found in a fantasy.
.
.
.
I brought Jiman to the hideout and let him wash first. I need to feed him and the kids, but what nu should I serve I wonder… After much deliberation, I decided on the Hwajo. It’s a little big for a chicken, but I could just say that it was a local chicken caught and raised by Jiman.
While Jiman was washing, I went to the shelter and caught a Hwajo. All I did was look at them occasionally as the scarabs were the ones who fed them and even collected their eggs. Although Hwajo’s eggs were not as big as turkey’s, they were still large enough for several people to eat their fill.
Once I returned to my hideout, I raised a small flag from the roof. The children rushed into the hideout instantly.
“Are you being carried again, Yeowool?” When I teased, she stuck out her lips.
“No. I walked on the rope by myself.”
“If you see how she did it, you would die of laughter hyung.”
“Ke… pu huh.”
“If you talk, I will kill you.”
Both of them shut their mouths when Yeowool glared at them.
“Huh? Ahjussi, who is here?” Yeowool asked. She probably heard so noise from the room next door.
“I think you’ll be surprised once you see who’s here.”
“Who is it?”
Eventually, Jiman appeared. Their faces turned noticeably brighter when they saw him.
“Hyung!”
“Hyung! You are alive!”
“It’s nice to et you again. I lived because Gim… Seongho hyung saved .”
“What happened?” Jiman told them the story we had created earlier. He was chased by a monster and was rescued by . The death of JongSaMu mbers had nothing to do with us at all. Also, we decided to hide our identities for the ti being.
When Jiman talked about being chased by a monster while walking around looking for a local chicken, the three of them looked at the Hwajo whose feathers had been plucked.
“…But it’s strangely large for a local chicken, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. I’ve never seen a chicken this big.”
“It’s a chicken, a chicken, uh-huh.” It’s not a real chicken, but let’s pretend it is.
Anyway, the four of them were quite excited about eating the chicken. I started cutting the Hwajo into smaller pieces. Yeowool looked at , then squatted next to .
“Can I help you with anything, ahjussi?”
“I can do it alone. Go play with the others.”
“I still think I need to do sothing to help.”
“Why?”
“I have to do sothing to help rather than just keep receiving.” Compared to Junho and Doyoung, who were busy chatting, she indeed had a sense of reality. But I’m not feeding them for free.
“I’ll have sothing to do for you guys later.”
“What is that?”
“You’ll find out soon. It’s not a difficult task, so relax your face.”
It’s just a little dangerous.
“Ahjusi, I’m not making any face.”
“Anyway, if you’re bored, add so seasoning. I’m going to make spicy chicken stew.”
“It’s not braised spicy chicken?”
“Because I’m the one who is making it, it’ll be spicy chicken stew.”
“Um… ok.” Yeowool kept her mouth shut and started following my instructions to make so seasonings. Then suddenly, she grumbled.
“Ahjussi, you ca here without anything. So why do you have so many things? You are really a farr.”
She was talking about was the seasonings I had prepared.
“I was lucky.” I shrugged. After a while, the porcelain bowl began to emit a delicious sll. I called everyone and spoke in a serious tone. “As you may already know… the orcs have arrived. Now is not the ti to joke around anymore, got it?”
“The orcs are said to be very strong.”
“Cheol-jun hyung and Yuju noona over there told that several people have already killed it.”
“Oh right. I saw a group of people gathered together for the first kill event before.”
As they said that, Jiman and I t each other’s gaze. Then, I opened my mouth. “It’s about people who have nothing to do with us. Anyway, orcs have appeared, and soon zombies will beco powerful. From now on, you can’t carelessly roam around. Be ready to leave the hideout at any ti.”
“…” They all gulped and looked at each other’s faces. They probably felt guilty for barging in my hideout as if they were going on a picnic in the neighborhood.
At that mont, Jiman took sothing out of his backpack.
“I drew a map because I was interested in Dot island. I think it will be fine as a hideout.”
“Dot island? Oh, you an the island over there?”
Everyone stared at the map. Jiman’s handmade map recorded not only the facilities, but also the place of remaining boats and fishing points.
“On the day of the apocalypse, there were very few people on that island. Two people at most? So there will be practically no zombies there.”
“There is a high probability that there will be no monsters either.” I chid.
Monsters normally respawn around humans. For example, they wouldn’t appear in the desert where there are no people.
In case we use the island for our hideout, very few monsters will naturally appear, but we are strong enough to hunt them.
“It looks good for the long run, how about it?”
The faces of the three were not very good. “There’s really nothing wrong with the island…”
Then the three started to tell Jiman and I their story. They said that in the past, when Masan students went on a field trip, the destination had always been that island nine out of ten tis. It wasn’t very popular either because all the facilities were old, and there was a lot of dissatisfaction among the students because they had to take a boat.
“You know right, hyung? During the field trip, students like to sneak to the nearby popular places, but we can’t even do that because it’s an island.” Junho Spat
“That’s right.” Doyoung chid.
“It’s nice to be on an island like that. There won’t be many monsters.” But as always, it was Yeowool who made the decision. “Do we live there and only co out when we are farming?”
“See this boat? It’s an FRP boat, but to put it simply, it’s made of plastic. You can go back and forth between islands and land with it.”
“There is also a building inside, so let’s make it our hideout… we can also make a vegetable garden.”
“And there is one more advantage…”
“What advantage?”
Yeowool asked, and I briefly explained. Imagine the gym people who will join later. Usually, you need to be a few hundred ters away from any zombie in order to prevent zombie raids to occur. But since the island was quite distant from the beach, it already nullified the risk.
If the island was too large, it would definitely be infested by zombies and monsters. And if the island was too small, there would be no room for infrastructure. However, Dot island was just the right size for a few survivors. Everyone was happy when they heard that a zombie raid might not happen.
“Then you can hang out with people!”
“Let’s go there quickly.”
“Wait a minute. It’s only a hypothesis, no one really knows if it will really work or not.”
“If you look at the conditions of the zombie raid, well…” Then the chicken soup started to boil. The sll was so enticing. Goblins might be coming, so we’ll have to eat it quickly. I put out the fire and opened the lid of the bowl. The unique spicy aroma of chicken soup spread in the air.
“Discussion is good, but let’s eat first.”
“Thank you for the food!” Everyone rushed towards the at with all their might, but Jiman was hesitant. Tears flowed from his eyes when I asked him to eat.
“I think I did well coming here.”
“It’s been a while since you ate this, right? Eat as much as you can.”
“Yes. I ate it when I was young and haven’t eaten it anymore since then…”
“…”
The three kids who were busy inhaling at, instantly stopped. Junho caught Yeowool’s fierce gaze and put the big leg on his plate into Jiman’s bowl. At that mont, I was determined to catch a wild boar even if I had to use live ammunition.
We’ll have to eat well for a while.
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