CHAPTER 10

Survivors (5)

Seven men and women sat closely together around a large table in the living room.

"I'm so sorry. There aren't enough seats."

Park Hye-won looked at me nervously, unsure of what to do.

"It's fine. It's our fault for barging in so suddenly."

With seven full-grown adults arriving at a house meant for a family of four, it was natural that there wouldn't be enough space.

"There isn't much, but please enjoy."

Contrary to Park Hye-won's humble words, the table was set with an extravagant feast.

Freshly cooked rice glistened under the light, neatly rolled egg omelets were arranged beautifully, the steamed eggs were perfectly puffed up, and the fried eggs were cooked just right. The spread was incredibly generous.

"What do you mean, 'not much'? This is a full-course meal, unnie!"

As Kim Ga-young exclaimed in excitement, Park Hye-won waved her hands dismissively and shifted the credit to me.

"It's all thanks to Jaehyun. If it weren't for him, we would've only been able to serve plain rice and tangerines."

To be fair, it was unlikely that a household surviving for ten days would still have proper ingredients left.

That's why everything on the table was made with eggs.

I had taken the liberty of stocking the empty fridge in Choi Hyung-jun's house with milk and eggs, filling up their nearly empty rice container as well.

Through this, Park Hye-won's trust level had reached 50.

"I never expected her to reach 50 before Choi Hyung-jun."

At first, she had the lowest trust level among the Choi family, but she was someone who found immense happiness in small things.

"Let's eat!"

As the meal officially began, everyone was too busy shoveling food into their mouths to talk.

"Mmm! The steamed eggs are amazing!"

"Wow, this omelet tastes just like the sweet ones they serve in Japanese restaurants!"

Just then, Choi Seo-yeon tugged at Park Hye-won's pant leg and mumbled.

"Mommy, Seo-yeon wants omelet too…"

"Seo-yeon, once the guests finish eating, Mommy will make more for you, okay?"

"Hmph."

Seeing this, Kim Ga-young turned to the little girl.

"Seo-yeon, do you want to eat omelet with unnie?"

"Yes!"

Before Park Hye-won could stop her, Seo-yeon quickly ran over and squeezed into the seat next to Kim Ga-young, eagerly taking the omelet she offered.

"Ahhh—munch."

She looked just like a baby bird being fed.

At that moment, Ha Dong-geon turned to Choi Hyung-jun's family, who were awkwardly standing in the kitchen.

"Would you like to join us for the meal?"

"Oh, no, we're fine. There's no room, and we already ate…"

Contrary to his words, Choi Hyung-jun was staring at the feast on the table, drooling.

He had probably only eaten plain rice with water earlier, so it made sense.

I spoke up.

"Come and eat with us. There's still plenty of food left."

"Uh… if you insist."

In the end, all eleven of us squeezed around the table for the meal.

I picked up a piece of omelet and popped it into my mouth.

"…!"

Kim Ga-young's reaction wasn't an exaggeration.

Park Hye-won's cooking skills were much better than expected—it really did taste like the ones served in Japanese restaurants.

'This is delicious.'

Even the steamed eggs were perfectly seasoned.

I could mix them with rice and eat them just like that—it would still be amazing.

"Wow… It's been so long since I had a proper home-cooked meal," Kang Deok-su murmured in admiration.

'It really has been a while.'

Eating a meal that wasn't just instant ramen reminded me of my mom.

Especially the way the table was overloaded with food for no reason—it felt just like home.

'I hope they're all safe.'

I missed my family.

I had been moved after learning about Moon Byung-ho's situation through the Absolute Eye skill, because his face clearly showed his concern for his grandmother.

I knew that feeling all too well.

And I respected how Ha Dong-geon's group had willingly rallied to help Moon Byung-ho.

That was why I was sitting here eating with them without hesitation.

I knew these were good people.

"..."

Suddenly, a heavy silence fell over the table.

When I looked up, everyone was glancing at me cautiously.

It seemed my face had unintentionally turned serious, making them nervous.

I quickly forced a smile to reassure them.

"Ahem. Wow, this is really delicious."

I could tell everyone was a bit wary of me.

'That's odd.'

I usually had a rather youthful appearance, so people tended to either underestimate me or feel comfortable around me.

But here, everyone seemed intimidated.

Except for one person.

"Mommy, Seo-yeon is sleepy."

The youngest, Choi Seo-yeon, was the only one who seemed completely at ease around me.

Even her older sister, Choi Na-yeon, was watching me carefully.

"Ah, okay, Seo-yeon. Na-yeon, should we go to bed too?"

"Mm-hmm."

With that, Park Hye-won took the two children to their room, and the real discussion began.

I turned to Ha Dong-geon.

"Let's continue our conversation from earlier. Your grandmother's place isn't far. What's stopping you from going?"

He spoke slowly.

"The goblins."

"Goblins?"

"Yes."

That was strange.

I had seen his group easily wipe out four goblins in an instant.

Sensing my confusion, Ha Dong-geon elaborated.

"You know how large the underground parking lots in apartment complexes are, right?"

"Of course."

"It seems the goblins around the complex have gathered there, using it as a nest."

I frowned.

That parking lot was huge—big enough to hold thousands of cars.

Which meant…

"We estimate there are at least several thousand goblins down there."

"..."

It was worse than I thought.

Thousands of goblins packed into an underground parking lot?

The few dozen I had seen outside were just the tip of the iceberg.

"And as you know, all the apartment entrances are near the parking lot. With so many goblins around, we haven't been able to leave."

I countered his argument.

"But there's a side path."

"Yes, we planned to escape that way at first, but…"

Ha Dong-geon's eyes flickered uneasily.

"There was something even more dangerous than the goblins."

"What do you mean?"

He spoke in a grave tone.

"…We think it was a werewolf."

"A werewolf?"

"We're not sure. It was too dark, and it looked so dangerous that we ran the moment we saw it."

If the side path was blocked, that meant…

"We have to fight our way through."

"Yes. That's why we've been focusing on reducing their numbers for the past few days."

Ha Dong-geon sighed.

"We've killed a lot, but the numbers hardly seem to shrink. And now, we're running out of arrows."

"Arrows?"

Kim Ga-young explained, "Our main weapons are bows and baseballs. But arrows are consumable, and we're almost out."

"That's easy to fix. Show me your arrows and baseballs."

She handed them to me.

I registered them in the shop and began restoring them.

As I handed out newly acquired bows and arrows to the group, notifications appeared.

[Citizen Ha Dong-geon's trust level has increased.]

[Citizen Kim Ga-young's trust level has increased.]

[Citizen Moon Byung-ho's trust level has greatly increased.]

Hope flickered in Moon Byung-ho's eyes.

I looked at him and declared,

"Tomorrow, we're going to rescue your grandmother."