Hiding a Distribution Center in the Apocalypse - Part 8
(Mad Dog and the Wall (2))
Buaaang!
The truck charged forward,
Crunch!
A charging Zergling was struck by the car and met a brutal end.
After reducing the numbers of those pesky bastards, taking them down became one step easier.
From the start, their individual combat prowess hadn't even matched that of orcs.
“...It's the third floor.”
Yi Yongsu spoke, his two hands gripping the steering wheel trembling.
His home was an old villa situated in a residential area.
The glass communal entrance was shattered, and the stench of uncollected food waste beneath nearby utility poles stung the nose.
The fortunate part was that no corpses were visible.
It was a far cry from the main street, where bodies had lain strewn underfoot.
In a way, it was a good sign.
It was a small villa.
After completely blocking the parking lot entrance with the tower truck, we climbed the stairs.
Yi Yongsu had stamped on the accelerator with all his might until our arrival, yet now his pace up the stairs to his home was sluggish.
For he could not know whether what lay beyond the doorway was a blessing or a calamity.
Perhaps he wished for that result to be deferred indefinitely.
Despite his anguish, the doorbell button was far too light.
As if it had been pressed by accident.
Ding-dong—
Just as the doorbell's lingering tone began to stretch out,
a voice came through the intercom.
“...Is that you?”
***
“......!”
His daughter hugged him and cried.
It was the small, rabbit-like daughter he had seen in photos.
Before their daughter's tears, Yi Yongsu and his wife swallowed the cries threatening to burst forth.
Only after their emotions had somewhat settled did Yi Yongsu introduce me.
“This is Kim Jeonggyeom... the one who helped me get all the way here. If it weren't for him, forget about making it here—I wouldn't have survived in the first place.”
He mentioned each and every thing that had happened at the logistics complex.
How he had rescued him from the orcs.
How he had dispatched wyverns and helped them escape the logistics complex.
And finally, how he had used the Auto-Dispatch Skill to wipe out the zerglings and clear a path.
As I listened, even I began to think so.
‘...I'm no ordinary benefactor, am I?’
I had simply been trying to get to Seoul, yet I had ended up helping him a great deal quite unintentionally.
Of course, I had received a lot of help too.
Without him, the road here would not have been so smooth.
When Yi Yongsu finished speaking, his wife bowed her head deeply toward me.
“Thank you so much for saving my husband. I truly... I don't think I could have lived without this man.”
The tears she had been holding back burst forth.
The toddling daughter lowered her tiny head as well.
“Fank you.”
It was touching, yet at the same time, an awkward atmosphere.
Yi Yongsu hurriedly sorted out the situation.
“You must be very tired. Please, sit down and rest for a moment. I'll bring out something for a bite.”
He seated me on the sofa in the inner room and went out to the living room.
From the murmuring sounds I could hear, he seemed to be talking with his wife about something.
Before I knew it, drowsiness washed over me.
Come to think of it, I had taken down wyverns since early morning, traversed the city for quite a while, and then hunted zerglings all night without a wink of sleep.
Leaving aside the lack of sleep, the fatigue itself was no ordinary matter.
“...There's nothing to eat at home right now... not even water...”
I could hear murmuring from outside, but it was hard to stay conscious.
Struggling to hold onto my fading vision, I drifted off to sleep like that.
***
“...!?”
I woke up startled.
It was because I hadn't realized I had fallen asleep.
My body was laid out long on the sofa, covered with a warm blanket from above.
Yi Yongsu was beside me.
It seemed he too had dozed off leaning against the bed.
He spoke.
“I was going to tell you to eat... but you were sleeping so soundly that I didn't wake you.”
“...How long did I sleep?”
He checked his wristwatch.
“You didn't sleep long. About three hours? Let's have a meal first.”
Following him out to the living room, something was set up here and there on the dining table.
What was laid out on it was, surprisingly...
a typical Korean meal.
A hot pot sat atop a portable gas burner, and plump saury peeked its head through the bubbling kimchi broth.
And there was the savory aroma of pot rice as well.
‘...Is this even possible?’
The stench of destruction I had smelled for days was erased in an instant.
Yi Yongsu's wife spoke as if apologetic.
“I should treat you to something better... but we don't have many ingredients. I made do with stir-fried kimchi and canned saury. My daughter and I already ate, so please don't mind us and eat comfortably.”
With those words, she left for the small room where her daughter was.
Simply put, this was that.
Saury kimchi jjim.
It seemed they had taken the ingredients out of the truck while I slept.
They had used the usable ingredients among them generously to prepare a special meal.
Yi Yongsu urged.
“Please, eat quickly.”
“Ah... shall I?”
Slurp.
The broth was an even greater shock.
Somehow, they had neutralized the sweet and greasy taste of the stir-fried kimchi, leaving only the savory umami of the bland saury and kimchi in my mouth.
It was a shame the kimchi pieces were small, but mixing the thickly boiled broth with grains of rice was a delicacy like no other.
“...Thank you for the meal.”
I emptied the bowl in one go, and Yi Yongsu, who had also finished his meal, took out two packets of mix coffee.
He then began boiling water on the gas burner.
As I blankly watched the blue flames rising from the burner, Yi Yongsu opened his mouth.
“You said your destination was Gangnam, right?”
“Yes, for now.”
“I'll give you a ride. Rest as much as you need... and let's leave when you're comfortable.”
“Huh?”
Originally, he had agreed to accompany me only as far as Indeogwon.
It was one of the passages leading to Seoul, after all.
He continued.
“I finished talking with my wife too. When I told her you were going to find your family... she said, 'Are we the only family that matters?' If we unload the supplies we loaded on the truck, she and my daughter will be able to last at least a few months. Of course, I'll come back before then, but...”
The road to and from Seoul.
He didn't say the obvious—that the road might be fraught with peril.
Swoosh.
He simply played dumb, pouring hot water into my cup.
Watching the coffee creamer lazily float to the surface, I sprang up from my seat.
And spoke to the surprised Yi Yongsu.
“Please wait a moment.”
I opened a portal leading to the subspace.
. . .
“Pax, you said if I raised the level, I could let in people other than me, right?”
[Yes. Others can be accommodated starting from Level 2.]
“If I reach Level 2, how many can I accommodate?”
[Up to 20 people can be accommodated.]
“Oh... that's quite a lot?”
[Yes.]
I spread my fingers and counted the number of my family members.
Father, mother, and grandfather.
My older brother, sister-in-law, and two older sisters.
Even excluding them, thirteen spots remained.
It was a number that could easily fit Yi Yongsu and his family with room to spare.
The problem was the cost.
An astronomical price of 100 magic stones.
But...
Rustle!
I unzipped a large duffel bag.
It was the bag in which I had stored the magic stones during the zergling butchering show all night.
“Can you count them?”
[I shall check.]
[...The total is 116.]
“Can you proceed with the level up?”
[Are you sure?]
[At Subspace Level 2, the power maintenance cost is adjusted to 3 magic stones every 24 hours.]
[Water/gas costs are likewise set at 3 magic stones every 24 hours.]
Greater abilities came with proportionate costs.
It wasn't a small amount, but it wasn't a cost to fear either.
I was growing stronger by the day, after all.
[Understood.]
[Leveling up in progress...]
Doong—
In an instant, a red wave flashed and enveloped the space.
In the blink of an eye, the original white background returned, and...
“Is it done?”
[Yes.]
[Now you may accommodate others in the subspace as you wish.]
I had hit Level 2.
I decided to check what new abilities there were and what skills could be enhanced later.
For I had something to do right now.
And so, I exited the subspace.
. . .
“...You're back.”
Yi Yongsu sipped from his cold coffee cup.
He had gone out of his way to offer to take me to Seoul, so he must have felt a bit awkward when I suddenly got up and left.
I answered his proposal.
“Very well. Let's go together, Yongsu.”
“Yes, yes, you've made up your mind. Then when...”
“However, you won't be going alone.”
“Huh?”
Wheee—
I spoke with the portal left open.
“I've raised my subspace's level. Now I can let in other people. You can enter, Yongsu, and so can your family.”
“...Is that true?”
His face lit up.
That my subspace was invincible against external attacks.
And he knew that infinite supplies were stored within it.
It would be safer than any fortress that existed on Earth.
“However, there is a condition.”
“A condition...”
“Gangnam isn't the end. To Euljiro, Dobong-gu, and Uijeongbu. Take me all the way to the end. If you continue to lend me your strength in rescuing my family... I too will protect your family to the very end.”
Just as he needed me, I needed him as well.
For someone who had to travel a long distance, his ability,
He shot up!
Hearing my words, Yi Yongsu rose to his feet.
“I'll bring the two of them. Let's depart immediately.”
***
[An external entity is attempting to enter.]
[Will you permit the entry of Yi Yongsu, O Jisu, and Yi Yujeong?]
“I permit it.”
The moment my permission was given, the three entered the subspace.
“Wow...”
The three exclaimed the moment they crossed through the portal.
Not only the subspace stretching out vast beyond the window, but the fulfillment center's facilities themselves were a sight to behold from the start.
With state-of-the-art facilities reminiscent of a futuristic city, automated AGV robots were moving shelves this way and that.
I took Yi Yongsu and his wife, O Jisu, to the picking station first.
“Just search for items on the PC you see here and press the order button. Then the items will be automatically delivered right here. While staying here, feel free to order and use whatever you need.”
At the thought of instant delivery in the apocalypse, Yi Yongsu made an expression as if he were about to faint.
This time, his wife, O Jisu, brightened.
“Do you happen to have a lot of food ingredients?”
“This is the first floor, but there's a Fresh Center on the third floor. It should have pretty much any food ingredient you could need... so order and use whatever you need.”
“Oh my... this is wonderful!”
She exclaimed, cupping her face in her hands.
I felt once again that this was fortunate.
Various vegetables, meat, and even fresh seafood.
It was a place I hadn't been able to make proper use of.
It seemed she would make efficient use of even the kitchen in the staff cafeteria.
To liven up the mood as well, I demonstrated how to order something.
[Secret Jouju Character House. The price is 41,360 won.]
The AGV robot brought a brilliant pink toy for girls, and I handed the gift to the daughter, Yujeong.
The child who received the gift looked back and forth between her parents, as if unsure what to say.
Feeling somehow awkward, I offered a joke.
“...If it's not to your taste, you can exchange it.”
Only then did Yi Yongsu pat his daughter's back.
“You have to say thank you.”
“Fank you.”
I gently stroked Yujeong's head as she bowed deeply.
After escorting O Jisu and Yujeong to the staff lounge, Yi Yongsu and I slipped back outside.
The car he was driving slowly exited the alley.
He turned his head back again and again.
To take in the old villa where he had lived.
The rented monthly room he had occupied.
In this destroyed world where the very concept of ownership had crumbled, what he wished to preserve had nothing to do with such legal efficacy.
“......”
He hadn't been able to bring even a single family photo.
Because the subspace hadn't permitted it.
The only thing permitted was the massive fulfillment center, and nothing else.
Looking back...
The subspace distribution center contained every item in the world.
Except for what was missing.