The Weight of What Remains

“Go and feed him.”

“Thanks.”

“Really.”

Hearing Park Deokpal thank him made his body twist awkwardly.

He didn’t think he used to be like this.

“No, I really am grateful.”

Seeing Garam like that, Park Deokpal reached out and ruffled his hair.

The overly close gesture made him freeze up without realizing it, and an apology followed.

“Sorry. You just remind me of a younger sibling I used to know.”

“What kind of sibling?”

“Before the world collapsed, I was in an orphanage.
There was this kid I saw for a short time.
He was cute, like a newborn puppy.
He used to cling to me calling me ‘hyung.’
After everything went crazy, I don’t know what happened to him.”

It was a more serious story than expected.

“Even Kang Jungbae probably doesn’t know this.
I never bothered to tell him.”

“Is it okay to tell me something like that?”

“Maybe?”

Park Deokpal grinned and stood up, holding the crops Garam had given him.

“Then I’ll go feed hyung now.”

“Go on, hurry back.
We need to plant the seeds from last time again.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

After Park Deokpal left, Garam brushed his own hair.

“A puppy, huh.”

Is that the image he gives off?

He wished he looked a bit stronger.

Judging from what Deokpal said, he was imagining a soft, baby puppy.

“No way… right?”

Holding his full stomach, Garam stood up.

He needed to organize where to plant the seeds before Deokpal returned.

“By the way, regular seeds don’t get stat bonuses.”

They grew fine, but that was it.

Even when he used the same skill, the growth rate was slower than the system-provided seeds.

‘Well, as long as it tastes good.’

Yeah, that was enough.

Kang Jungbae was drinking the alcohol he got from the dining hall again today.

Normally, the kitchen wouldn’t give it away so easily, but recently he had gotten close to someone.

If he slipped some money, they provided leftover cooking liquor.

The taste wasn’t great, but alcohol was alcohol.

Kang Jungbae drank to get drunk, so he wasn’t picky.

‘Yeah, I really hate the city.’

There was a time when Kang Jungbae had been a proper awakened.

D-rank, sure, but he had still tried to live properly within the city.

He used to feel proud of himself.

“Dad is amazing!”

His daughter always praised him like that.

His only precious child.

Kang Jungbae loved his daughter as much as she loved him.

Everything went smoothly, his ability slowly improved, and he had even dreamed of living somewhere better someday.

And then, his daughter fell ill.

It was a rare disease called Mana Hardening Syndrome, sometimes seen in ordinary people.

Supposedly the disease of someone who tried but failed to awaken.

At first he tried to stay calm.

Thinking he had to get her treated somehow, he ran everywhere, but a D-rank awakened could do nothing.

To slow mana hardening, they needed a healer’s treatment— and the cost was terrifying.

His income could never cover it.

That’s when he stepped into the darkness of the city.

He could do anything if it meant saving her.

But in the end, she died because of it.

It was all Kang Jungbae’s fault.

He knew that.

But humans are weak.

He needed something to hate just to keep going.

So he hated the system of the city where only the strong survive.

He resented its filthy underbelly.

That’s when he met Park Deokpal.

A boy, around the same age his daughter would have been.

That alone was enough reason for him to reach out.

“Hyung!”

Kang Jungbae hugged his bottle and looked at the cheerfully approaching Park Deokpal.

Hic.

He tried to speak, but only hiccups came out.

“You’re here, hic.”

“Hyung, look.
This is what Garam and I harvested.
It tastes incredible.”

“Leave it.”

“No way.
I’m watching you eat it this time.”

Deokpal spoke firmly, but Jungbae wasn’t easy either.

He hugged the bottle like a pillow and shut his eyes, pretending to sleep.

“I know you’re not sleeping.”

Even so, sometimes you just had to pretend.

“Hyung.”

After trying several more times to persuade him, Deokpal eventually placed the basket beside his pillow.

“Sleep a bit, then make sure to eat it.
Okay?”

Jungbae waved him off lazily.

Deokpal sighed, but Jungbae didn’t open his eyes.

Only after hearing him leave the room did he open them again.

“I really hate the city.”

He preferred the days struggling outside.

It was so hard he didn’t have the energy to think.

Now that his body was comfortable, his mind wavered.

Chuckling, Jungbae shook the empty bottle.

Realizing it was finished, he stood up.

He had no money left— what would he trade for more alcohol this time?

His eyes landed on the basket Deokpal had left.

Without much thought, he picked up a tomato.

Crops were valuable— maybe he could trade it for some liquor.

“Should I add a corn too?”

After a moment of hesitation, he grabbed a corn as well and staggered toward the dining hall.

But partway through, a few men blocked the hallway.

Other laborers.

They were laughing at something.

Curious, Jungbae looked—and saw a spider toy hanging from a long string.

Made surprisingly well, it moved up and down as they pulled the thread.

His daughter loved that toy.

“When did she like it again?”

He didn’t remember her age, but he remembered that she loved it.

Every time it moved, she’d clap and laugh.

“Oh, Kang Jungbae!”

One of the workers gestured excitedly.

“How’s this?
I made it!
Pretty good, right?”

The man laughed, clearly wanting Jungbae to laugh or praise him.

He knew that, but his head wasn’t working.

“How much is it?”

The words escaped him without thought.

“Why?
You gonna buy it?
Got a kid?”

“I do.”

Well— he did.

“Ohh, if you’re buying, I can give it cheap.”

His eyes drifted to the crops Jungbae held.

“Come on, that’s too much.
It’s just wood and string.”

Someone who knew Jungbae tried to stop him, but it was too late.

He wanted it.

“How much?”

“You got money?”

They knew he wasted money on booze.

Jungbae checked his pockets— of course there was no money.

“If not, you can give me those.”

He pointed at the tomato and corn.

“I said that’s too much.”

“Hey, let the buyer decide.
Don’t butt in.”

“Fine.
I’ll buy it.”

Without hesitation, Jungbae handed over the tomato and corn, and received the spider toy.

‘My daughter will like it.’

Her death anniversary was coming soon.

He thought he would offer it then.

“Wow, you liked it that much?”

The one who tried to stop him clicked his tongue.

“What can I say?
I’ve got skills.”

“Still, taking two crops is too much.
You shouldn’t do that to another worker.
They’re already not in a normal state.”

“What does it matter?
He helps the guild leader’s lover.
He’ll get more crops anyway.
That’s why I did it.”

The man shrugged.

Then he began calculating inwardly.

Fresh crops were valuable.

He could eat them, but that would be wasteful.

‘It’s risky… but worth it.’

He could sell them outside.

Some people wanted fresh crops and used laborers to smuggle produce out.

People who couldn’t afford the artificial farm’s produce.

Most of Haechi’s artificial farm produce went to the upper class.

Lower ranks rarely tasted it.

Of course, with enough money you could buy cheap, distributed produce, but this was different.

‘Big money, finally.’

He hugged the tomato and corn tightly and smirked.

He sold them to someone outside.

Only a tomato and a corn— but because they were grown in Haechi’s farm, they sold for a good price.

And through a broker, the crops reached somewhere else and became part of a dish.

And the people who ate that dish checked their status windows.