Chapter 53: We Were the Golden Goblins?!
Translator: ShutDoor
What was the most important ability when it came to running a country?
There were many possible answers, but the most important had to be the ability to know one’s own limitations.
Just as the apocryphal tales claimed that Joseon’s fourteenth king, Run-jo, fled faster than a German armored division in World War II, a nation’s leaders sometimes needed the nerve to decisively abandon what had to be abandoned. [TL Note: “Run-jo” is a mocking pun on King Seonjo’s name, combining it with the English word “run”.]
Granted, Seonjo had been cursed to hell and back by later generations, but wasn’t that only because he had tried to forsake the kingdom and flee to Ming China?
Therefore, the South Korean government, which realized it was fucked three or four days after the outbreak and ran to Jeju Island, was practically saintly compared to Run-jo.
At least the South Korean government hadn’t abandoned the country, right?
(It had abandoned its people.)
“…”
But understanding something intellectually and accepting it emotionally were two entirely different matters.
—Your call cannot be connected. After the tone, you will be redirected to voicemail…
Especially when he was one of those who had been “abandoned”.
They had clearly promised to take him at the end of February, yet the first week of March had passed without so much as a phone call.
“…”
He should have realized something was wrong when they kept postponing the date. He had been uncharacteristically naive. He had placed too much faith in his relationship with a superior he had worked under for more than ten years.
Perhaps he had secretly felt reassured because he, too, was a senior civil servant promised evacuation to Jeju Island. He had believed that even if the world went to hell, the government would never abandon “useful” talent like him.
Just as the officials who somehow managed to follow King Seonjo on his flight must have felt reassured even as countless commoners died around them, Kwon Taek-ju had felt the same.
He had been complacent and stupid.
“Fuck, this was a total bust.”
“I told you we shouldn’t bother with houses where the front door was open. They’ve one hundred percent already been cleaned out.”
“Tsk.”
“Mister, we’re taking this stuff, so don’t follow us. I was going to kill you, but you looked so pathetic that I’m letting you live.”
Kwon Taek-ju did not even have the strength to resist the looters.
Would it have been better if he had never learned that he had been abandoned? When the chance of rescue that had come so close gave way to betrayal, he felt as though he were falling endlessly into a bottomless abyss.
But the human will was not so strong. He had intended to starve to death with the dignity of the scholars of old, yet once hunger began gnawing at his stomach, even that proved difficult.
He lasted roughly ten days by forcing himself to chew and swallow raw rice mixed with honey.
Unlike his hardy ancestors, who had survived on grass roots and tree bark, he was a well-fed modern man who had grown up in comfort. There was a limit to how long he could survive on raw rice and honey alone.
Anonymous32541: Hardtack is way too dry T_T (5)
Anonymous1175: That ID number next to an anonymous username <- Is there any benefit to having a high one? (7)
Anonymous1500: ID number in the 100,000s = idiot, 10,000s = beggar, 5,000s = commoner, 1,000s = noble, 100s = royalty, 10s = god, below that = haven’t seen one yet
Anonymous12162: Are there no fixed usernames here?
Anonymous88151: I’m not certain, but Anonymous91252 <- I think this one is infected. I can’t explain why, it just feels that way;;
Perhaps things would have been different if he had thrown away his conscience like the other looters, broken into someone else’s home, and stolen food. Unfortunately, Kwon Taek-ju was neither ruthless nor courageous enough for that.
What was the point of struggling to stay alive anyway? Even if he managed it, he would only live another year or two at most.
—The number you have dialed is not in service…
“Ha, haha… hahaha.”
It seemed that the man he called his senior had disposed of the phone entirely. The government might have confiscated all electronic devices, but Kwon Taek-ju no longer cared.
If he went to Daejeon Armed Forces Hospital to protest, he would be shot dead at the entrance. If he appealed to the internet about the injustice, it would obviously be censored in an instant. There was nothing he could do.
Kwon Taek-ju languished from malnutrition and starvation until he finally collapsed unconscious.
And then.
“…?”
He regained consciousness in an unfamiliar place he had never seen before.
An IV was neatly inserted into his vein. This was a “clean” medical room, something he could not even have dreamed of since the nationwide epidemic began.
There were no bloodstains in the corridor, and not even the screams of patients could be heard. Warm sunlight streamed through the window, while the expensive medical equipment beside his bed emitted regular mechanical beeps.
Faced with a sight beyond anything he had imagined, Kwon Taek-ju swallowed, his mouth dry. Was this a dream? Was it a delusion created by his mind just before he starved to death…?
Click.
At that moment, the door to the hospital room opened and heavily armed troops burst inside. Once, the sight of soldiers carrying firearms would have horrified him. Since the outbreak, however, such weapons felt reassuring instead.
The sight of the soldiers before him was what finally convinced Kwon Taek-ju that this was reality.
Could this be Jeju Island? Yet no matter how he considered it, it seemed unlikely that they would send a helicopter through the gargantuan yellow dust storm blanketing the Korean Peninsula just to rescue someone they had already abandoned once.
If they had intended to save him, a rescue team should have arrived long ago. Besides, with all supplies so scarce, they would hardly invest this many resources in a mere grade 4 civil servant wasting away from malnutrition.
Sensing that something was strange, Kwon Taek-ju tried to sit up.
THUD- THUD-
“…”
Uh, uh. Hmm… hmmm.
He obediently lay back down.
The “thing” that entered the room behind the soldiers was far too enormous to be called human…
No wonder this hospital was excessively quiet and clean for a place that should have been classified as a “place to avoid” and an “infection hotspot” after infections had exploded past the critical threshold.
If “something like that” roamed the corridors, manners would be forcibly drilled into anyone, whether they were a crazed, rampaging infected person or not.
When the hulking soldier encased in massive steel armor of unfathomable thickness silently looked down at him, Kwon Taek-ju felt a genuine fear of death.
How could a person’s hands be that large? It truly seemed as though one firm squeeze could burst his head like a watermelon.
The moment that thought occurred to him, Kwon Taek-ju found himself behaving more respectfully.
The troops appeared to have intended this intimidating atmosphere from the start. The oldest among them, and the only one whose face was uncovered, slowly stepped forward.
“Mr. Kwon Taek-ju?”
“Y-yes…”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Major Lee Jun-su.”
“Y-yes, sir. Major Lee Jun-su…”
“Haha, you don’t have to be so formal. I’m not your superior, after all.”
He was telling Kwon to relax with “that thing” standing right behind him? He had to know exactly what he was doing.
But all Kwon Taek-ju could do was force a smile and nod as best he could.
“During the great yellow dust storm, we were evacuating civilians around Daejeon when we discovered you at your home and rescued you. Do you understand so far?”
“…You rescued me? Me?”
“Yes. We rescued you.”
Kwon Taek-ju looked utterly bewildered.
It probably… wasn’t a lie. He had been on the verge of starvation, and judging by his current condition, they had treated him. There was no sign anywhere that they had harmed him.
The question was why they had rescued someone even the government had cast aside…
“Actually, I have a few questions to ask you regarding that.”
Of course. No one would have rescued him for nothing in a world like this.
Kwon Taek-ju’s mind immediately began racing.
Starvation might have reduced him to a wretched state, but he was still one of the elite of the elite. He had passed the civil service examination at twenty-five, and his exceptional competence and political acumen had earned him the rank of grade 4 civil servant in his early thirties, far sooner than most.
His name had not been placed on the Jeju Island evacuation list for nothing.
As such, Kwon Taek-ju knew far more about the current government’s inner workings than most. His knowledge ranged from unofficial information that had never been disclosed to the public to important materials classified as state secrets.
But civil servants had a strict duty to maintain confidentiality. Moreover, unlike corrupt officials who stuffed their pockets with bribes, Kwon Taek-ju was a model of integrity who had silently devoted himself to his work.
His loyalty to the country and pride in his service were exceptional as well.
How could a man like Kwon Taek-ju willingly hand state secrets over to some mere warlord? As a proud son of Korea, surely he had to remain loyal to the South Korean government and uphold his principles…!
…Did he really need to?
Honestly, they had abandoned him first.
These people, meanwhile, had gone out of their way to bring him back from the brink of death, treat him with care, feed him, and even provide him with a clean bed.
He absolutely was not rationalizing this because “that thing” was glaring at him as though it wanted to kill him. Really.
His deliberation was brief.
“W-what would you like me to tell you?”
“First, I would like you to tell us everything you know about Jeju Island.”
“Th-then, to begin with…”
After the lengthy interview finally ended roughly two hours later, a peculiar silence settled over the hospital room.
As Kwon Taek-ju watched Major Lee Jun-su tilt his head with an unconvinced look, he felt his lips go dry.
Did they not believe him? No, it was more likely that they had not obtained as much information as they had expected.
If they decided he was useless, there was no telling when he might be cast aside again.
He made up his mind!
“I-I know the locations of the national emergency stockpiles the South Korean government left behind when it evacuated! F-first, in North Chungcheong Province…”
“Ah, we have already recovered the stockpiles you mentioned.”
“…?”
H-how…?
No one could have known that unless they were a senior civil servant like him…
…Ah, oh.
They must have brought in all the other people who had been “abandoned” like him!
What magnificent character, worlds apart from that damned government that had abandoned its people and fled.
“I will take my leave now. We may visit again later to gather and cross-check information, so please keep that in mind.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
“Haha, I told you, you don’t have to be so formal.”
Besides, for a warlord, didn’t he seem like a pretty decent person?
Thinking that, Kwon Taek-ju kept both hands respectfully folded until “that thing”, its heavy footsteps thudding, had completely disappeared into the distance.
“…Phewww.”
Only now did he feel as though he could breathe again.
He did not know exactly where he was, but he had survived. He was a reasonably capable administrator, and surely a massive warlord faction of this scale would allow him to more than pull his own weight…
Tap.
The pen slipped weakly from Kwon Taek-ju’s hand.
His gaze was fixed on the view outside the window, which had been faintly visible through the curtains for some time.
Beyond the window stretched a plaza so vast that he could scarcely see its end, and children ran freely through a green park.
It was a sight he could never have imagined in the outside world, which held nothing but radioactive yellow dust, starvation, and the screams of the infected.
“…”
Was it because of the relief of having survived? Or because he could see such a dreamlike sight again even after the world he had known collapsed?
For a long time, Kwon Taek-ju could not tear his gaze from the view outside the window.
*****
Kwon Taek-ju subsequently remained in the medical room for a week, receiving intensive treatment.
During that time, the soldiers visited several times and questioned him intensively about the Jeju Island government. In the process, Kwon Taek-ju realized that trusting the government meant clinging to a rotten rope. That made him far more forthcoming in his answers.
“J-just in case, I’ve written everything I know down in this notebook!”
“Mr. Kwon Taek-ju.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
“I like that proactive attitude very much.”
Apparently pleased by the sight, Major Lee Jun-su gave Kwon Taek-ju a conspicuous pat on the shoulder, then left the hospital room after telling him that good news would arrive soon.
And shortly afterward.
“Once an NIV treatment is developed, you will be among the first to receive it.”
“M-me?”
“Yes. The higher-ups have quite a high opinion of your abilities.”
“Th-then…!”
“So we’ve decided to start giving you some work.”
“…?”
Why was the conversation heading in that direction?
“If you produce good results, we will provide you with corresponding ‘special privileges’.”
With that, Major Lee Jun-su held out a document detailing the various welfare benefits the shelter could provide.
Come on, how much could these so-called privileges possibly…
…Oh.
Kwon Taek-ju read exactly three lines before immediately closing his mouth.
Did they really have all this?
He cautiously glanced up at Major Lee Jun-su, but the man’s expression remained calm, as though he fully intended to deliver on every one of these unbelievable offers.
No, even the South Korean government couldn’t provide benefits at this level…
“Furthermore, if you produce noteworthy results, we can provide you with a private living space of roughly twenty pyeong.”
He had thought that was the end, but one extraordinary offer after another continued to pour out.
Uh. Hmm.
Kwon Taek-ju’s eyes darted about as he punched the numbers into his mental calculator. Then he nodded very slowly and respectfully.
“W-where should I begin?”
*****
“We questioned him repeatedly for a week, but obtained no significant results. Kwon Taek-ju didn’t know the full story either.”
Then again, if Kwon Taek-ju had known about a “means of distinguishing infected people from uninfected people”, he would not have reacted so violently in the intercepted call recording.
“Still, we didn’t come away entirely empty-handed.”
Countless pieces of information we had known about but ignored due to the lack of solid evidence.
This incident had finally provided circumstantial evidence solid enough to count as concrete proof, allowing us to reach one clear conclusion.
“It appears that games other than ‘Shelter Builder’ also exist.”
I thought so too.
I recalled the strange survey from last Christmas Eve that had completely transformed my life.
Even now, I remembered every last word of its first question with perfect clarity.
「1. What do you consider most important in an apocalypse?」
-
Trustworthy companions
-
Survival skills
-
A safe shelter
-
Personal combat strength
At the time, roughly fifteen percent had chosen number three, “A safe shelter”, as I had.
I had not been the last person to answer the survey, so that percentage was not perfectly accurate, but the overall picture was unlikely to have changed.
And if we assumed that the people who chose options other than “A safe shelter” had each received a different game as well…
There was an extremely high probability that the South Korean government’s “ability to distinguish infected people from uninfected people” was granted to those who chose number one, “Trustworthy companions”.
“We think the game for the first choice is most likely called ‘Party Maker’.”
They also estimated that number two, “Survival skills”, was called “Survival Craft”, while number four, “Personal combat strength”, was called “Combat Master”.
Unlike “Shelter Builder”, which had gone viral and caused a stir both inside and outside the community starting a month before D-Day, those three games had barely been mentioned at all, much less become popular topics. The information we could obtain about them was consequently extremely limited.
There was exactly one key point we needed to consider here.
Just as I had completed all fifty questions in “Shelter Builder” and received the staggering sum of 1 quadrillion won, did the other games also grant different rewards according to how far each user progressed through the survey?
If so… just how outrageous were the privileges obtained by the top-ranking users in each field?
“In the case of ‘Trustworthy companions’, what we have confirmed so far is that they possess the ability to determine whether someone is infected over a wireless connection. It would not be unreasonable to consider it a psychic ability.”
As for number two, “Survival skills”, we had yet to determine exactly what it did…
Anonymous9999: Yarr~ Found the gas mask crafting recipe~
Presumably, as with most crafting games, it allowed users to combine a few pieces of junk into respectable tools or equipment.
It appeared to be an ability specialized for survival in a post-apocalyptic world where resources were limited.
And finally, number four, “Personal combat strength”.
Those bastards were impossible to gauge. Personal combat strength? If one trillion won’s worth of combat power was roughly equal to a Juggernaut…
I did not even want to imagine it. I could only hope they did not exist in this world.
Why? Just imagine if one of the bastards who chose “Personal combat strength” became infected with the NIV virus.
The genre would instantly change from an apocalypse survival story into a powered-up zombie story.
And I doubted number one, “Trustworthy companions”, ended with that one ability either. It obviously looked like it could affect affinity or something, making it an ability tailor-made for cult leaders.
What about number two, “Survival skills”? Wasn’t the whole setup perfect for underarmed raiders straight out of M*d Max to scrape together junk, craft vicious tools, and raid the bases of us “Shelter Builder” users?
Uh.
…Could it really be three against one? Was that seriously the setup?!
Fuck. Me.
We were the golden goblins?!
⚬──────────✧──────────⚬
Join our discord server: https://discord.gg/96hMXymzMP