Chapter 464
D 65 .
“There’s nothing left to eat?” (Chang-Sik)
“No, it’s not ‘nothing’, but just that the delivery hasn’t co in yet . ” (foreman)
“Isn’t that the sa thing?” (Chang-Sik)
“...”
Choi Chang-Sik could only groan while looking at the foreman struggling to answer .
“Can’t you, like, be honest with us?” (Chang-Sik)
“A-about... what?” (foreman)
“Whether it really is the supply issue or we’re running out of food . ” (Chang-Sik)
“T-that, that is...” (foreman)
The foreman instantly beca hesitant . The surrounding workers were currently staring at him with sharp glares .
“Uncles, you should all ease up a bit, too . This isn’t the foreman’s fault, right? If we want to know the truth, we shouldn’t all behave like this . ” (Chang-Sik)
The people exchanged glances with each other after listening to Chang-Sik’s urging, then slightly lowered their heads .
“Honestly, I also don’t know . ” (foreman)
“You don’t know...” (Chang-Sik)
“All I heard was that the delivery won’t co today, and it’ll only resu soti tomorrow . ” (foreman)
“Mister foreman, you also have no idea what’s going on?” (Chang-Sik)
“Yeah . ” (foreman)
“Mm...” (Chang-Sik)
Chang-Sik roughly scratched his head . In that case, he couldn’t just bla the foreman here, even if it was unknown whether the latter was telling the truth or not .
‘But then again, what would he know, anyway?’ (Chang-Sik)
The foreman was rely in charge of managing the workers in this place and not soone possessing up-to-date information on what was going on around the world .
It’s just that Chang-Sik figured the foreman would know a little more than everyone else here since the latter was frequently in contact with the higher-ups . However, when he thought about it so more, the ones in the upper managent wouldn’t necessarily explain everything to a foreman of a small factory like theirs, even if he was in charge of distributing rations .
‘There shouldn’t be a reason for the supply to be disrupted here . ’ (Chang-Sik)
When objectively thinking about it, there was no reason for the food delivery to run into issues since it wasn’t as if bombs had been dropped behind the battlelines or sothing .
“What do you think is the problem, mister foreman?” (Chang-Sik)
“I told you, I don’t know . ” (foreman)
“No, I’m not asking you for the truth, just your opinion . ” (Chang-Sik)
“My opinion, is it...” (foreman)
The foreman scanned the workers with a pair of deeply anxious eyes .
“We won’t start a riot or sothing like that . ” (Chang-Sik)
What Chang-Sik said prompted the foreman to flinch .
“Logically speaking, you start a riot if there’s sothing to forcibly take away in the first place, right? We all know already that there aren’t any foodstuffs left in the supermarkets and the convenience stores, so what’s the point of rioting now? It’s not like we want extra soaps or shampoos, you know?” (Chang-Sik)
“I guess so . ” (foreman)
The foreman sighed under his breath .
“Dunno if you noticed it lately, but the rations had been decreasing in size from a little while ago . ” (foreman)
“Or we only get mixed grains, instead . ” (Chang-Sik)
“Right, that too . ” (foreman)
The foreman continued on with a slightly trembling voice .
“This is what I think... The food production hasn’t completely stopped, but... I’m beginning to think that the food reserve is running out . ” (foreman)
“The reserve?” (Chang-Sik)
“You know, things like rice and stuff . ” (foreman)
Chang-Sik beca sowhat stupefied as he stared at the foreman .
“We ran out of rice?” (Chang-Sik)
What kind of an absurd tale was this??
“No, hang on . Before this crisis happened, I’ve been hearing stories about rice rotting away in storage sowhere because we have too much so we gotta financially support the farrs, and also it’s costing billions every year just to store away the surplus and things like that, yet we ran out of rice already?!” (Chang-Sik)
“But that was when we still had functioning international trade . ” (foreman)
The foreman spat out a lengthy groan .
“Back then, rice wasn’t really important . Half the people usually consud bread or noodles or sothing else . But now, there’s nothing else to eat beside rice these days, isn’t it?” (foreman)
Chang-Sik beca speechless .
“There are so rumblings about MREs but that’s the story for the folks in the frontlines... They can’t really spare so to the people behind the lines . ” (foreman)
“But, even if that’s true, we only lost Seoul so far, so how co we don’t have enough food?” (Chang-Sik)
“I told you, it’s just my guess . Besides, that reasoning is wrong . It’s not that we don’t have food because we lost Seoul, it’s more like the food stopped coming because the international trade has stopped . Think about it . Trade with the countries that used to export food to our country have all stopped now, right?” (foreman)
“Ah...” (Chang-Sik)
“I’m sure that the food reserve hasn’t completely run out yet . I an, we did have plenty of farrs in the countryside, after all . So the food couldn’t have run out in only a little over two months . ” (foreman)
“Well, yeah . ” (Chang-Sik)
“The real issue, though, is whether or not the folks with spare food reserves are willing to sell them . ” (foreman)
“Why wouldn’t they?” (Chang-Sik)
“They also need to eat, don’t they? In our current situation, there’s no guarantee of buying food even if you have the money, so who would be willing to sell what they have?” (Chang-Sik)
“...”
Chang-Sik forgot what he wanted to say . He never thought about the issue that way before .
“No, hang on . I’ve not heard about countries going to war running out of food, you know?” (Chang-Sik)
“That’s because, no matter which war in history you’re talking about, the whole planet wasn’t embroiled in it, that’s why . The fighting often took place only on the frontlines and the areas behind didn’t face many problems, after all . However, you know that’s not how things are now . ” (foreman)
“...”
“Not only the whole world is fighting to stay alive, nobody knows when the locations you think are safe will start developing problems . And besides, when the world wars broke out, they didn’t rely heavily on food import like us . And finally, the governnt wouldn’t have planned for an all-out warfare that lasted for this long, too . ” (foreman)
“In that case, what should we do?” (Chang-Sik)
Chang-Sik asked with an idiotic-looking face, and the foreman could only sigh .
“How should I know? Except that... if the governnt folks have any functioning brains, they should be coming up with a solution soon enough . Either they forcibly appropriate food or find another way . ” (foreman)
“...Wow, this sucks . ” (Chang-Sik)
Chang-Sik grunted helplessly .
He had been feeling it on his skin that the country was circling down the drain lately . But forget about his skin, he could acutely feel it right down to his bones now .
‘How are we supposed to hold on without food?’ (Chang-Sik)
Worries crept all over Chang-Sik but he did his best to not show it on his face . He knew that people were focusing on him, that’s why .
Humans had this tendency to search for soone to rely on in tis of crisis . And the regular hierarchy of society would break down the worse the crisis was .
Chang-Sik would’ve been treated like so wet-behind-the-ears punk who hadn’t even gone to the army yet if they were in a normally functioning society . But as things stood now, he sohow ended up as the unspoken leader of the people working in this place .
“Is it confird that the food supply will get going again from tomorrow?” (Chang-Sik)
“...I can’t say it’s been confird, but that’s what they told . ” (foreman)
“In that case, we’ll have to wait, then . ” (Chang-Sik)
“But, look here, Chang-Sik . ”
“Eii . ” (Chang-Sik)
Chang-Sik waved his hand dismissively at the voice calling out to him from sowhere in the back .
“I know what you want to say, but we’ll look like a bunch of clowns if we go on a rampage today only for the food to show up tomorrow, you know?” (Chang-Sik)
“But, this problem concerns our livelihood . ”
“With how the situation is, we gotta accept the cards being dealt to us for now . Even I would’ve gone straight to the principal’s office if the school wasn’t giving food, and tear out what little hair remained on the principal’s baldy head, but our current situation isn’t like that, right?” (Chang-Sik)
“W-well, yeah . That’s true . ”
“Other people are still working their butts off, so let’s not ruin the mood for everyone else . We wait until tomorrow, and if no food cos through even then, it won’t be too late to flip the table and start sothing . ” (Chang-Sik)
Everyone seed to be in agreent .
“Okay, but what about today?”
“Well, we all have stashed so food away, haven’t we? Why don’t we just eat that for today?” (Chang-Sik)
Quite a few people were shooting him dissatisfied glares, but none seed willing to express their unhappiness in the open .
This situation wouldn’t get resolved just because they got angry and threw a tantrum, and besides, they were also scared by the possibility of the gun-toting MPs patrolling the streets outside barging in here after they caused a commotion .
‘However, a major problem will happen if no food is distributed tomorrow...’ (Chang-Sik)
Everyone here was holding back because there was the hope of incoming food tomorrow . But if the supply kept getting disrupted like this in the future, then it’d be only a matter of ti before the ticking bomb exploded .
To all these people who worked hard and continued to endure the hardship while holding onto the faint ray of hope that they might survive sohow, the notion of ‘no food’ would be the sa thing as telling them to die of hunger after enduring for so long .
“In any case, let’s go and eat sothing . ” (Chang-Sik)
“But they didn’t give us any food, so what can we even eat now? All the supermarkets are empty by now, too . ”
“I’ve stashed a few packets of ran away, so let’s just eat that for today . Mister foreman, do you have a burner with a good output? Cuz it looks like a lot of ran needs to be cooked today . ” (Chang-Sik)
“I think there’s a stove for cooking stews in the kitchen . ” (foreman)
“Then please tell them to prepare the equipnt . I’ll go with a few people to fetch the ran . ” (Chang-Sik)
“Oh, will you do that?” (foreman)
Chang-Sik smirked and turned around to leave . Even before he said sothing, several people accompanied him .
However, despite turning around all cool and the like, Chang-Sik’s complexion couldn’t be described as bright at all .
‘We are really at the limit . ’ (Chang-Sik)
He had been hearing the stories of riots breaking out from here and there . Such as, so people demonstrating in so other place got forcibly suppressed yesterday, and earlier today, people who were forced into working in a factory a bit of a distance away had started a riot, etc...
Although it might not seem acceptable, he still understood where they were coming from .
Not acceptable, since the whole world was in a crisis and everyone needed to work together yet they were going on a riot, but at the sa ti, the rioters must’ve been deeply frustrated and tired for them to riot in the first place .
Even Chang-Sik himself got royally p*ssed off more than a couple of tis already at this gradually worsening situation and the frustrating reality .
“Hey, Chang-Sik . ” (Choi)
“Yeah?” (Chang-Sik)
Mister Choi next to him quietly asked him a question .
“Didn’t we have a blackout yesterday in the factory?” (Choi)
“Sure . ” (Chang-Sik)
“How many tis have it been this week?” (Choi)
“I think, three tis? But regular households only get electricity during a short ti in the evenings these days . It’s not like we are living in North Korea or sothing, but oh well . ” (Chang-Sik)
“...I’m trying so hard to stay tough, but man, I’m getting more and more worried, dude . ” (Choi)
Chang-Sik sighed deeply .
“ too, uncle . too . ” (Chang-Sik)
“Really? So it wasn’t just who’s getting worried?” (Choi)
“Nah . Everyone’s scared . But we’re still holding on . ” (Chang-Sik)
“...I see . Knowing that kinda comforts a little . ” (Choi)
Chang-Sik watched Mister Choi’s shoulders slump lower and clenched his teeth .
‘We’re really at our limit, hyung...’ (Chang-Sik)
People were still dying in droves by the frontlines even as he chatted away . He didn’t want to be that guy who whined while doing a relatively easier job behind the line, but even he was reaching the limit of suppressing his ntal exhaustion .
Even if the situation stopped getting worse and stabilised as it was now, the people enduring behind the battle lines would sooner or later reach their ntal limit .
‘I’m sure it’s worse at the frontlines . ’ (Chang-Sik)
A battle that continues on for two months? Now that was sothing no one would be able to even imagine . Didn’t it an that you’d have to live under the fear of not knowing when you’d die for two months straight?
The physical pain would be one thing, but the ntal trauma would truly be enormous .
“Didn’t you say the last ti that this situation will co to an end if so guy cos back?” (Choi)
“...Yeah, I did . ” (Chang-Sik)
“Can I still believe in that?” (Choi)
Chang-Sik nodded his head .
“Yeah, he’s soone like that . And he’s soone who’ll make it happen, too . I’m sure the reason why he’s taking longer is to get better prepared . ” (Chang-Sik)
“For real, right?” (Choi)
“Eii, it’s not just making an empty claim, you know . Do you rember that ti when so people from the higher-ups ca to fetch ?” (Chang-Sik)
“Yeah, that did happen . ” (Choi)
“That’s why we gotta hold on for a little bit longer . When we do, my hyung will surely show up . ” (Chang-Sik)
“I will have nothing more to wish for if that happens for real...” (Choi)
Mister Choi blurred the ends of his sentence .
He wasn’t in no shape to encourage himself only with Chang-Sik’s assurance at this stage . Should he say that those words were nothing more than the faintest thread of hope that barely held everything together?
‘What point is there to return after everything’s over?’ (Chang-Sik)
Chang-Sik felt his innards starting to boil when he rembered Yi Ji-Hyuk’s tendency to appear at the most ‘opportune’ timing in the past .
He could only pray and then, pray so more, that Yi Ji-Hyuk and Co . , would arrive before everything ca to an end .
< 464 . With sothing powerful and unmissable -4 > Fin .
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