By Zephyria Goryeo City was one of the more prosperous human cities that emerged after the Great Cataclysm.
The land secured during its construction was about 1.5 times the size of other Comfort zones, and it was also able to supply its own food to some extent by maintaining adjacent farms. Most importantly, no new Crystal Zones had appeared nearby for decades.
In addition, most of Goryeo City’s members were accustomed to control even before the Great Cataclysm.
While most of the Comfort zones that sprang up were stagnating due to internal strife, this community adapted unusually quickly to the changed world.
‘The personal information of everyone who sets foot in the City is recorded in the Central Information Center.’
‘All residents are protected in their lives under the City system, but those who disrupt the order of the community must bear the consequences.’
Under these simple and oppressive rules, Goryeo City established an unshakeable order.
Considering that other Comfort zones suffered growing pains for quite some time despite similar rules, this was a significant advantage for survival in the post-apocalyptic era.
Of course, this controlled society was not without its drawbacks.
In any group, there are majors and minors.
Those who deviated from the ‘diligent and exemplary’ citizen image were pushed to the outskirts of the prosperous City.
Brilliant ideas could become creativity that leads the future under individual inclinations, or antisocial crimes.
It was their misfortune that purely bad people also gathered on the outskirts.
“Aish. My joints are getting stiff at the slightest thing now.”
“Jackal, you can’t cheat age. You’re almost done for.”
“Done for, my ass. I still have a long way to go before opening a bar in Sakdal Central.”
“You’ve saved up that much and it’s still not enough? You could buy a house inside with that money.”
“I should have found that old man’s corpse last time… That bastard snatched it again.”
A middle-aged man with greying hair frowned and rummaged through his pockets. He picked out a greyish-white lump from a rustling plastic wrapper and chewed on it like gum.
Most of the guys doing rough work lived with these drugs in their mouths. Unlicensed drugs, to put it nicely, or illegal narcotics, to borrow Central’s expression.
Even though they were called drugs, they were mostly focused on sedation and pain relief rather than treatment. In fact, the latter was a more accurate description.
“That guy’s been making a lot of money. Thanks to him, we don’t work like demons these days.”
“How long do you think that’ll last?”
“Who knows? But it’s easy pickings. He’s even got a friend tagging along.”
“Friend?”
The man, who had raised his eyebrows, chuckled and spat. Purple saliva flew and stuck to a corner of the dirty street.
Every guy working in this field knew about the young mercenary. Healthy, strong, and a skilled brat.
It was a fact witnessed by everyone on the street that the guy, who had always been alone since he grew up, had started dragging someone around with him one day.
Considering that he had refused Jackal’s offer of partnership because he didn’t want to share the commission, this was an unusual event.
But the fact that the one he was dragging around was an unidentified man who always wore a loose hood.
He wasn’t short, but he was a human who looked relatively petite next to Jin Mu-hae, who could be called a giant.
Some said he had transferred from another City, while others gossiped that Jin Mu-hae had caught him wandering around without a home and was using him.
Considering that the young guy was crazy about money, the latter was more plausible, but speculation was just speculation.
People with good eyes found a noteworthy truth among the rampant rumors.
Since the strange tail started following him, Jin Mu-hae’s mission success rate had risen to nearly 100 percent.
Every mission he picked was a jackpot. It was a situation that money-crazed guys couldn’t help but be tempted by.
[Would you like to view the log?]
Yes
* * *
[Day 39]
That’s right, there was a log
I was so out of it after meeting Jin Mu-hae.
I didn’t even think about it…….
I should have written it down whenever I came to my senses.
But it’s okay. I’m happy, so it’s fine.
In the meantime, Jin Mu-hae bought me clothes, more shoes, snacks, and meat…….
That’s right. He also bought me a gun.
It looks different from Jin Mu-hae’s, and its function is just Blue Energy charging, so it only shoots electricity.
But he also gave me a club that I can hold in my hand.
Hmm-
Director Gil said this one is more expensive. He said it’s a good alloy that doesn’t bend easily.
He said it looks like a Taser stick at first glance, so you can threaten bad guys just by pointing it at them.
But it doesn’t really matter even if it’s not good. The one Jin Mu-hae bought is good.
That’s right. That’s right.
Yeah…….
Ah. And when I go to work with Jin Mu-hae, people stare.
I was so excited at first that I greeted them loudly, and Jin Mu-hae hit me on the head.
I was a little sad. But he bought me a Fruit Tornado instead, so I forgave him.
I haven’t collected all the Tinkle Friends yet, so I think I’ll have to eat it a few more times.
And…….
And…….
Hmm. What else should I record?
I eat meat every day, so it’s not special…….
Get a grip
……Ah. Quests.
Get a grip
-Paraak!
[Quest]
Main Quest
Tutorial (Completed)
Chapter 1
☞ The City’s Heretic (Completed)
The Wolf That Lays Golden Eggs √
200,000 Deal Relic √
☞ The Unquenched Embers (Completed)
Intangible Legacy √
The Beginning of the Journey √
A Pair of Wedding Rings √
Kingfisher √
☞ Mayday, Mayday (In Progress)
The Missing Blueprint
After passing through all the blanks that were not in the game story, Jin Mu-hae smoothly entered the next quest.
That is, the day we entered the Taeul District.
Jin Mu-hae probably got the ‘accomplices’ contact list at that time.
But he probably couldn’t connect with anyone. Strictly speaking, the numbers listed in the contact list are not phone numbers.
It’s like an authorization code needed to connect devices. The function to identify the code must be found and inserted separately.
The purpose of this quest is to complete that function.
It’s Jin Mu-hae’s job as he inherited Jin Seong-jo’s will.
And, um.
Yeah. It’s my job. Because I’m Jin Mu-hae’s helper.
So after this…….
Grumble.
So…….
Go eat.
Oh, Jin Mu-hae?
Never mind, then.
No way. I’m going to eat. Don’t take it away!
Just try swallowing bones again.
Okay!
If you’re not full, open any can and eat more.
Okay!
* * *
Jijijik-.
[The log has been saved.]
8 AM, 1 PM, 7 PM. These are the times when Joo-oh’s eyes become subtly unfocused.
With his accumulated experience, Jin Mu-hae knew the right time to feed him.
Of course, in addition to those three meals, Joo-oh was constantly munching on something.
Mu-hae easily guessed that it was the snacks he had bought for him to eat as he pleased.
“What are you muttering about since earlier?”
“Huh?”
Even with a large bird roast that could easily feed five people in front of him, Joo-oh was just blankly moving his lips.
It was an unusual sight. Wondering if something had happened, he pressed him, and he shook his head and tore off a leg.
Then he giggled to himself. He looked strange at a glance.
Mu-hae was already used to Joo-oh’s eccentric behavior. He started eating without any particular complaints.
“But you know, Jin Mu-hae.”
Before long, Joo-oh swallowed the food he had been mumbling and spoke.
“Can I sleep in the living room later?”
“No.”
“But I’m sleeping on the floor.”
“Why are you sleeping on the living room floor? I gave you a mattress.”
“Uuuuh…….”
Unable to find anything to refute, Joo-oh chewed and swallowed the meat with a sulky face.
His randomly furrowed eyebrows were still beautiful to look at.
“You.”
“Yeah.”
“If you come into my bed again in the middle of the night, I’ll hang you on the window.”
As Mu-hae warned preemptively,
“Hmph.”
Joo-oh made a sound of blatant pique.
“I’m not kidding.”
Jin Mu-hae frowned as if warning him, and crunched on the end of the poultry’s wing, bones and all.
Joo-oh lowered his eyes and became a little dejected.
“Tch…….”
Since returning from Buckta, something new had been added to Joo-oh’s behavior patterns, which were already full of eccentricities.
He used to go into the study obediently when it was time to sleep, but now he kept lingering outside the room.
Could the memory of sleeping together in the Small aircraft during the mission have been quite impressively imprinted on him?
After returning home, he kept trying to take over someone else’s bed, and when Mu-hae kicked him, he grumbled and sprawled on the floor.
It was outrageous. He would come up stealthily and act up if given the slightest chance.
But when he got serious and angry, Jin Mu-hae kept remembering the moment when he was asleep.
His eyebrows often twitched as if he was having a nightmare. His eyes, which looked for him as soon as he groggily opened them.
It’s not that he pities him. What’s pitiful about the guy who sleeps in someone else’s house and eats eight servings of food?
Still, he could roughly understand why he tried to stay close to someone every night.
He doesn’t even seem to know that he dreams himself…… Well, he didn’t intend to tell Joo-oh that.
“Then, um…… I’ll watch TV a little more.”
Joo-oh, who had been tearing off his second leg, tried to negotiate while looking at him.
He was saying that he would stay close a little longer without going to bed. He was about to push away the obvious trick, but Jin Mu-hae just sighed as if to tell him to do as he pleased.
“Are you going to make noise?”
“No. I can turn off the TV sound.”
Then he’ll sing to himself in the middle of the night. Mu-hae swallowed the words that had risen to the tip of his throat.
“But instead, stroke my hair.”
“No.”
“You can hit me and then stroke it.”
“You son of a…… Get lost.”
Mu-hae, who had been cutting the meat, cursed in a fit of anger.
His neck stiffened at the thought of him spouting such nonsense somewhere else.
Joo-oh didn’t even know what he was saying and pouted. He looked normal, but he still wasn’t in his right mind.
‘Damn it.’
He should have just ignored him back then. Mu-hae’s appetite dropped, and he stared at the dirty end of the fork.
It’s all because he brought Joo-oh along. Things that wouldn’t have happened normally keep happening.
That is, was it about two weeks ago…….