Guide to the Fallen World - Chapter 16

#16. Merchant

Yeowon realized her intuition was correct the moment the merchants stopped.

How could she have been so oblivious when everyone was dropping hints like this?

The answer was already clear. She had fallen asleep as soon as she was assigned a tent the day before, unaware of the atmosphere. During the entire bike ride, she had been too distracted by the scenery she had only seen in videos to notice the group’s piercing gazes until it was too late.

Yeowon humbly admitted her fault.

It was her first time outside the Ark, so she got excited.

It’s ironic how others are terrified of the land beyond the Shelter, calling it the Land of Death.

And being ostracized like this feels oddly nostalgic. It’s not like she’s a carrier of an infectious disease, yet no one dares to come near her.

The blatant rejection naturally brought back memories of the past—those times when I became invisible simply because I couldn’t move my limbs.

The difference now is the overwhelming sense of hostility for reasons I can’t fathom.

Why are they hostile towards us, when we were the ones who saved the merchant from the monsters?

“Uh, um. It seems like we’re being ostracized.”

“As you can see, it seems like that.”

“Why though? Just yesterday, the merchant leader was so grateful, saying we escaped danger thanks to Esper Kang Do-hyuk.”

“Yeah, they were grateful. That’s why they even assigned us a tent.”

Jay shrugged and suddenly grabbed Do-hyuk’s bike helmet.

At the same time, Do-hyuk flinched noticeably, his shoulders jerking. He seemed to want to stop Jay but couldn’t bring himself to do so.

Jay looked at Do-hyuk with pity before handing me the helmet.

“Take off your visor and try this on. Then you’ll understand what’s going on.”

Jay, who usually insisted I keep the visor on, was the one suggesting it this time, so Yeowon obediently removed it. The situation became clear the moment she put on Do-hyuk’s bike helmet.

【You trash who monopolized the guiding drugs. Because of you, Shelter Cheorwon collapsed. Do you even know that? That was my hometown.】

【Photo attached.jpg】

【Is it really Kang Do-hyuk? I thought you’d die along with Shelter Noah, so why are you here? Came out looking for a place to die?】

【You bastard. If you had shared just one guiding drug back then, my dad wouldn’t have died.】

【Which bastard leaked the info about the guiding drug distribution?】

【Do us a favor and leave our caravan. Help from someone like you isn’t welcome at all.】

【They said you went half-mad after Shelter Noah was destroyed, guess the rumors were true. No response, huh? Hey, are you even reading the chat?】

【Photo attached.jpg】

【Hey, answer something. Can you really not chat? Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey.]

【Photo attached.jpg】

【Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey.】

[If you have a conscience, go out and die. Hundreds of Espers died because of you.]

A surging wave of malice and hostility. The reason for the ostracism was now clearly evident.

How did he drive wearing this helmet? If these chat messages weren’t just a few, they would’ve obstructed his vision, constantly appearing in real-time.

Even after receiving a favor, the overwhelmingly negative public opinion left her feeling dizzy.

From the looks of it, if things had gone according to the original plan, she would never have been allowed to join the group. This was only possible because they had received help first—by defeating the monster and escaping danger, allowing her to travel with them, at least for now.

Now, she finally understood the subtlety in the merchant leader’s attitude from the day before. They had been more eager to thank her and Jay than Kang Do-hyuk, the Esper. It wasn’t just because of the guiding drug after all.

With a troubled expression, she took off the helmet, and Do-hyuk who now have pale face, quickly accepted it.

“It’s my fault.”

Without saying a word, Do-hyuk immediately confessed his mistake. Yeowon struggled with how to respond to his attitude.

Everyone has their own circumstances, and only the people involved or connected to the situation have the right to criticize. So, she didn’t care about the public opinion or the bad reputation surrounding Kang Do-hyuk, the Esper. That was something she didn’t know about.

Well, I guess this much should be enough for now?

Whether the words flooding the chat window aimed at him were true or not, he endured cyberbullying the entire drive…

“You know it’s wrong, right?”

The sudden interruption of those words broke Yeowon’s train of thought.

The Esper who had been glancing at Kang Do-hyeok Esper all along had a fierce gaze. Was he here to pick a fight?

However, contrary to expectations, the man smiled at Yeo-won and Jay as if he had never frowned before.

“Ah, don’t misunderstand. I didn’t come here to fight. I heard you were the ones who provided the guiding drugs. Thanks to that, the rampage level dropped drastically.”

“Ah.”

“I came to thank you. If you have more of the guiding drugs, I’d be happy to buy more, and I’ll pay you generously.”

It seems the matter is the latter, so Yeowon silently turned to look at Jay. Distributing the guiding drugs to various places was Jay’s responsibility. Yeowon knew that she wasn’t giving them out for free.

Setting up guiding drug production bases everywhere and manufacturing androids all require money. While most tasks are handled by androids, acquiring and processing raw materials still inevitably requires money.

Building the barrier system, stocking food and medicine to sustain life—everything requires money.

Survival itself was dependent on money.

“What’s with this reaction? Are you not selling it? Ugh. That’s a bit troublesome… I’m not planning to buy it at a bargain price. Name your price, whether it’s double or triple. I’ll go into debt if I have to, but I’ll definitely pay it back.”

“Hmm. How much do you think?”

“At Jay’s words, the man held up three fingers.”

“Three hundred thousand Krona.”

“Alright.”

“Oh, you’re going through with the deal? No haggling, just like this? I feel bad since I’m getting the guiding drugs for free.”

“If the esper is in good condition, we’ll be able to reach our destination safely. It’s mutual help.”

“Thanks. Oh, I’m Lee Hyuk Cheon from Shelter Bukcheong.”

“I’m Jay. I’m from Shelter Montreal.”

“Wow. You came all the way here from the United States? That’s amazing.”

“Haha. It’s because of some circumstances.”

“I know. You can tell just by looking. Shelter Montreal, huh? I’ve only heard of it by name, but it’s so far away I never had the guts to visit. It’s almost like being in a foreign land, and if you’re from there, I imagine you’re a bit slow on the news here.”

“That’s probably true.”

“Haha. I figured as much. I’m saying this because I can tell. It looks like you sold the guiding drugs to Kang Do-hyeok without knowing what you were doing. I’ll let it slide since it seems like you didn’t mean it, but don’t show that kind of thing in front of other espers. You could end up dead from someone’s frustration.”

The esper’s warning, delivered with a smiling face, made Yeowon feel a chill run down her spine. Why was she saying something like this after the deal was done? Was he implying that if they hadn’t sold the guiding drugs, they would have been killed out of frustration?

Yeowon stared at the esper who had finished the deal with Jay, still in shock. Perhaps her surprise face was too obvious, as the esper chuckled and disappeared.

***

I understood that the public opinion of the merchant was not favorable. I also knew that we are the target of their exclusion.

However, when it comes to power, we are superior.

How did I know?

You can tell by the fact that every time a monster appears, Kang Do-hyeok, the esper, takes care of it. While two or three espers barely manage to defeat one, Kang Do-hyeok handles five or six on his own.

That’s the reason why the merchant’s espers openly show hostility toward Kang Do-hyeok but never actually fight him.

They spit on the ground in front of him, glare at him, kick up dirt as if it were a mistake—small provocations like that, but that’s as far as it goes.

They only kept quiet because of public opinion, but even the merchant’s leader looks worried, wondering what will happen if we leave. Given the situation, the exclusion doesn’t escalate into violent bullying.

People more or less understand. In fact, if you have eyes, you can’t not notice. In a time when monsters are rampant, force is as valuable as money.

The problem is that, in situations like this, there needs to be another target for venting anger.

An outsider who won’t cause any trouble if provoked. A prey with no consequences. It seems that I ended up taking on that role.

I understood. People need an outlet for their anger, and I’m clearly an outsider, a naive girl who doesn’t know the ways of the world. I’m the weakest among the weak.

She so the one who looks like she have some money.

Still, things hadn’t been much of a problem so far, thanks to Kang Do-hyeok, the esper. After all, he’s the strongest esper in the peddler group, and he was guarding me.

The problem arose when he was engaged in battle.

When monsters appear, the espers take action before the damage reaches the merchant group. Then, the merchants retreat to protect their goods and their lives. For this reason, everyone makes sure to carry a portable barrier. Life is precious, after all.

However, when you watch the battle between Espers from afar, you may think that this place is safe.

In addition, portable barriers also have a usage limit. If you really want to be safe, it is more economical to be vigilant about your surroundings rather than using a barrier.

If a monster that the esper missed appears nearby, it’s okay to activate the barrier then. Of course, if you don’t want to lose your life, you need to time it well.

For this reason, among the merchants who are staying away from the battle zone, some have activated their barriers, while others haven’t.

Yeowon has her barrier on because she’s a guide, and while her own life is important to her, she has to be extra protective of those who are struggling to survive.

A small hand grenade was thrown over the barrier. It was a stun grenade, but it’s hard to tell if it’s a stun grenade or not as soon as it’s thrown.

As a result, the battle formation of the Espers in the distance collapsed in an instant. The grenades that were on the verge of reaching the barrier were also sent flying away in a new trajectory by Do Hyuk’s kicks.

“Shall I kill him?”

Do Hyuk had already grabbed the killer’s throat. It happened before Yeo-won could comprehend the whole situation.