Chapter 26

I must have a knack for picking up villains.

I can’t tell if my luck is bad or good.

Picking up a villain is somewhat unfortunate, but picking up the original heinous villains before they became villains is somewhat lucky.

If things went according to the original, these kids would have turned a half-apocalyptic world into a full-blown apocalypse.

Of course, this poor kid wasn’t that influential…but still, he was the type to become a pleasure-seeking cannibal.

It’s hard to imagine from his current appearance…

It’s the perfect environment to go completely crazy.

Judging by the looks of it, he hasn’t been living a day or two under abuse.

I don’t know how far I can go, but I’ll aim to prevent him from becoming a villain.

“It’s late, let’s sleep.”

It’s not that late, actually…but that’s an adult’s perspective, kids need to sleep.

“Sleeping…on the floor…is okay?”

“No no no no, sleep on the bed.”

“I’ll sleep on the floor.”

Seolhwa shook her head roughly, showing resistance.

A bit bitter.

At this age, she would have been going to school without a care if she were living in her original place.

“I’m not okay, so follow me. Mina, can you help her?”

“Yes.”

I’ll let her sleep in my room for now.

Only Mina’s room and my room have beds.

I…can just sleep on the first-floor sofa.

Anyway, having a sofa isn’t that uncomfortable.

“Let’s go.”

I led Seolhwa to my room and managed to separate Mina, who seemed reluctant to leave me, and went downstairs.

…With three rooms, I can just put a bed in the remaining room.

But can I buy a bed at the market?

Lying on the sofa, I stared blankly at the moon rising in the sky, pondering, and closed my eyes as drowsiness overwhelmed me.

Let’s think after sleeping.

Sleep.

—————————

“Hold the pen like this, on your middle finger, with your index and thumb…”

I never thought I’d be teaching someone.

I awkwardly observed Seolhwa holding the pen.

Her hair, previously disheveled, was now tied back, and though her face still bore the scars of the past, the swelling seemed to have subsided compared to before.

In about a week, most of the marks should disappear.

“Uncle, you’re very knowledgeable.”

“I just know what I know.”

Of course, by this world’s standards, that’s enough to be considered an intellectual.

In a world where literacy rates plummeted again due to the aftermath of war.

In such a world, just surviving is considered fortunate.

At least in Seoul, public education is still alive, keeping literacy rates low…but that’s only true for the expanded New-Seoul, which includes northern Gyeonggi and Incheon.

Kids born and raised in the swamp area are lucky if they can read Hangul and do basic arithmetic.

Seolhwa couldn’t even read Hangul properly, so I felt the need to teach her Hangul first.

…Starting with how to hold a pen.

Honestly, it’s been a while since I held a pen, mostly tapping on screens, so it felt a bit awkward.

But after a few tries, it came back to me.

Holding a pen isn’t hard, but for Seolhwa, who’s holding one for the first time, it seemed quite difficult.

I didn’t expect to spend 10 minutes just on how to hold a pen.

“It’s hard…”

“It’s okay. You’ll get used to it as you write. Let’s start with consonants.”

“Uncle, I’m going out to work.”

“Alright. Take care.”

“…Take care.”

“It’s ‘take care.'”

“Take care?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

…Judging by her apparent age, she doesn’t seem much older than Mina, but it feels like teaching a child.

What can I do?

She didn’t grow up normally.

I spent the entire morning teaching Seolhwa consonants and vowels.

Fortunately, though she hadn’t learned before, she wasn’t slow, and Seolhwa quickly picked up Hangul.

And the final lesson of the day.

“Let’s write your name.”

“Seol…hwa…”

Seolhwa slowly wrote her name in crooked letters.

“Good job.”

“…Hehe.”

Is this why people raise kids…no, no.

“Today, practice writing until this paper is full. I have to go out for a bit, so take care of the house. Don’t open the door for anyone. Got it?”

Mina and I have keys, so unless someone breaks in, they can’t enter.

As long as she doesn’t go out…

I turned to look at Seolhwa practicing her writing before leaving the office.

…Will she be okay?

No.

If I want to be a proper guardian, I need to be diligent, not just worry.

I grabbed a handful of steel balls from my pocket and stuffed them in.

—————————

Not very tasty.

Curiosity kills the hunter, they say.

I barely managed to chew and swallow the jerky I bought from a store using the power of water.

How can jerky be this tasteless?

I shuddered at the bitter taste of the jerky and blankly stared at the playground where children must have played long ago.

The abandoned playground, overgrown with grass and vines, exuded a desolate atmosphere.

At night, it would be a horror spot.

Though in this world, there are fewer places that aren’t horror spots. Like that skull over there.

Oh, it’s not alive.

Even in a world where superpowered individuals run rampant, necromancy doesn’t exist.

If it did, the remaining fragments of civilization would have completely collapsed.

Or they’d resurrect the dead as skeletons for labor.

If there were labor forces that didn’t need food for rebuilding civilization, the pace would be much faster.

…Let’s just pick up stuff.

I got up from the bench and entered a nearby villa to fill my half-empty bag.

This place seemed to have been untouched for a long time.

Not by hunters, but by older residents.

Good thing I went to the outskirts.

Though more dangerous, there are treasures like this.

I first went to the rooftop to check the almost-collapsed attic.

Unfortunately, the attic was nearly destroyed by time, and unless I forced my way in, it was hard to see what was inside.

On hold for now.

The only house on the third floor seemed to have been a den for animals, with fur scattered everywhere.

Only cats would bother coming up to the third floor, so these must be cat remains.

Even if I find clothes, they’d be hard to use.

Not that anything intact would be left.

At best, stainless steel items could be used if cleaned.

Or well-preserved items.

Precious metals fetch a good price.

They can be refined and sold again.

I thoroughly searched the house for anything valuable.

After searching the entire villa, I gathered enough junk to fill a bag.

This should last me a few days comfortably.

Time to head back.

The sunset is starting, so I should leave now to get home before dark.

I started retracing my steps.

And after walking for a while.

I stopped at the entrance to the swamp area.

Or rather, I had to stop.

“You’ve been up to some interesting stuff, huh?”

“Goblin, it’s you again?”

“Goblin?”

Oh, people here don’t know about goblins.

Though it’s more surprising if they did.

This world never had gates open, and it’s a world where humans destroyed each other in war.

In such a world, who would know about fantasy monsters like goblins?

Maybe people in Seoul would.

“Talking nonsense…feeling relaxed?”

“Well…no reason to be tense.”

I pretended to be relaxed, placing my hand on my waist.

Five of them.

Four, excluding the goblin, had tools in their hands.

A normal person would be seriously injured if hit even once.

“Anyway, it seems like we need to teach a reckless pup some manners. Kids.”

“Can you handle it?”

In the swamp area, we can’t fight due to the aftermath…but in the gray forest, it’s different.

A place where no laws or morals apply.

Here…violence is the law.

“Ha, handle? Just because you entered the Crocodile Bird’s territory doesn’t mean you’re one of them. And…if you die here, who’d know?”

“True.”

I carefully placed my bag on the ground and stretched.

“Sigh…thought I’d have a peaceful day.”

It’s going to be a long day.

I took a handful of steel balls from my pocket.

“Let’s make this quick.”

“Get him!”

With the goblin’s shout, they charged at me.