The Absolute dweller

[Episode 01] The Absolute in the Corner of the House (1)

First of all, it is possible to grab the front door handle and turn it.

But the moment you open the door, these words appear along with the feeling of being blocked by a transparent wall:

[The absolute being in the corner of the house cannot leave the corner of the house.]

"Oh, shit!"

The doorknob turns, but the door doesn't open.

'I have to get out somehow...'

I know that too.

It would be crazy to go out at this point.

Three days after the world was destroyed.

It was purely my own ability that allowed me to survive until now.

Outside, dangerous monsters were swarming.

Just one monster bird—the one that just stuck its head in the living room window—would make a person like me a meal.

Nevertheless, there were two reasons why I wanted to go out.

One is family.

'Mom, Dad, and even Grandpa and Grandma.'

All my loving family members were outside.

[The absolute being in the corner of the house cannot leave the corner of the house.]

"Ha-."

There were complicated circumstances surrounding being away from my family.

I was the only one living in this 30-pyeong apartment, which had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a spacious living room and kitchen combined.

It was my father's choice to buy this apartment, and it was purchased with a combination of 200 million won in bank debt and our entire family's assets of 200 million won.

My father's gamble was successful, and the apartment he bought for 400 million won exceeded 1 billion won in just half a year.

The reason I, who was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth, was able to live alone in such a luxurious apartment was because I had to actually live there for two years to receive tax breaks.

In order to avoid the tax bomb, I had to sell it after two years anyway, so I ended up keeping the house during that time.

Of course, things didn't go well after that.

The collapse of the economy due to the aftermath of the coronavirus and war also affected the real estate market, and the price of houses that had exceeded 1 billion won had now fallen to 700 million won.

Moreover, it was quite risky since the interest on money borrowed from the bank was skyrocketing.

'That's all pointless now.'

Now that the world is ruined, what does it matter how much bank debt there is or whether apartment prices go up or down?

I can't sell it anyway.

'Please be safe.'

I pressed the call button on my smartphone, praying for the safety of my family.

[···Connecting···]

As expected.

As had been the case for the past three days, no matter how long I waited, there was no change.

All messengers, including phone calls, text messages, and KakaoTalk, were down.

I knew it wouldn't work, but I opened KakaoTalk and tried typing a message.

-Mom, are you okay?

"Please···!"

But the result was as expected.

⟳ Mom, are you okay?

The resend button appeared, but the message was not sent.

That was when:

[A temporary error has occurred. Please try again later. (Error code: 580, LO)]

A new message popped up, and the KakaoTalk app completely shut down.

I tried turning it back on several times, but the result was the same.

Just in case, I looked at the tab at the top of my phone and saw an icon that appears when data is disconnected.

"······Shit."

I had expected it to some extent.

In fact, it was more surprising that the data lasted for three days.

Because big websites like Google and Namer went down on the same day the world went down.

I clenched my fists in frustration, but nothing changed.

'I have to do something.'

The problem wasn't just this.

'If we stay locked up like this, we'll starve to death.'

Not only the internet, but everything was down.

Water, electricity, gas, etc.

The essentials for life were disappearing by the minute.

'There is enough water.'

Luckily, there was plenty of water ordered from Coupang.

There were 20 2L containers and 47 500ml containers, and they were all filled with water, regardless of whether they were water bottles or cups.

I ordered this because I was lazy about getting purified water every day, but my laziness saved my life.

'The problem is what to eat.'

Yesterday, the power went out, and the refrigerator lost power, and all the side dishes inside met their fate.

It was still holding up thanks to the door not being opened as much as possible and the coldness of the freezer, but that wouldn't last long.

'There aren't many packs of ramen left.'

All that's left are three bags of Jin Ramen Mild Flavor.

'If I had known this would happen, I would have bought ramen in bulk···.'

I never had to worry about stocking up on food thanks to my parents who came by every week to stock up the fridge with side dishes.

Thanks to that, the food left now was only enough for a week.

'Even if you save, you'll eventually run out.'

Ultimately, it means that you have to go outside to survive.

But...

[The absolute being in the corner of the house cannot leave the corner of the house.]

"······."

This ability, which protects me completely from ferocious monsters, will cause me to starve to death one day.

When food runs out, you'll slowly die of starvation.

'It's the worst.'

I reached out to the living room window with a longing heart.

If I could go out, I would do it through the window.

However...

[The absolute being in the corner of the house cannot leave the corner of the house.]

"Fuck!"

I threw my fist at that now tired phrase.

My fist ached with the sensation of hitting a hard wall.

'What is the Absolute!'

Isn't he a half-ass who can't even go outside his own territory?

'···Pathetic kid.'

Even though the world was ruined, I was still the same.

An unfilial son who never steps out of the house and sucks the life out of his parents.

You're a crippled bastard who can't even take care of yourself at the age of twenty-eight and still gets pocket money from your parents.

A parasite that is of no use to the world.

"···Fuck."

But then it happened.

Tiring!

"···Huh?"

A message I hadn't seen in the past three days appeared before my eyes.

[You have hunted Kellykan (Lv. 23).]

'Kellykan?'

Immediately after that:

[You gain a large amount of experience points.]

[Your skill level has increased.]

[Your skill level has increased.]

A flood of new messages appeared.

As I was looking at them, I suddenly remembered the monster bird that had crashed into the living room window, its head firmly against it.

I stuck my head out the window and looked down.

"Kaaaak!"

"Ugh!"

Dozens of small green-skinned monsters—goblins—were gathered around the corpse of the monster bird, feasting.

Looking at it from this high-rise apartment, it resembled a swarm of ants.

'Are they eating it?'

It seemed the goblins had hunted the monster bird while it was disoriented and falling.

Strictly speaking, I was the one who knocked out the monster bird, so I must have gained some of the experience points.

Thanks to that, my skill level had increased by two levels.

'Ha, that's ridiculous. What good is leveling up when I can't even leave the house?'

But my judgment was too hasty.

[You have acquired a new skill.]

[There is loot nearby that satisfies the conditions.]

[Starting to settle the loot.]

"Huh?"

A change occurred immediately after these unknown notifications appeared.

"Keeeeek!!"

"What the...?"

Startled by the sudden cries of the goblins, I quickly looked down again.

There, a completely different scene unfolded.

The festive atmosphere among the goblins had vanished, replaced by desperate screams.

'Why are they panicking?'

The cause of their hysteria was clear: the monster bird's corpse was disappearing in real time.

'It's vanishing?'

Parts of the bird's body were dissolving before their eyes.

From the goblins' perspective, it must have seemed like their precious prey was disappearing into thin air.

[Loot settlement has been completed.]

I checked the message. Below, a third of the monster bird's body had vanished.

[2,203,241 won was deposited into the wallet of the absolute owner of the house.]

The moment I saw the amount displayed in the new message, I instinctively counted the zeros.

'One hundred thousand... One million... Two million?! Two million won was deposited into my account?!'

For someone like me, who lived off an allowance, two million won was an enormous sum of money.

'What the hell is going on here...?'

Before I could even process what had happened, another change took place.

Flash

The living room brightened slightly.

Because it was broad daylight, the change was subtle, but the light overhead was definitely brighter.

I slowly looked up.

The ceiling light in the center of the living room was glowing.

'The power came back on?'

The electricity had been out since yesterday.

Given the massive damage to the city's infrastructure from the monsters, there was no way power could have been restored so quickly.

'It must be the skill! It clearly said a new skill was created!'

I quickly opened the status window to check the changes.

---

[Absolute in the Corner of the House]

Declaration of Cornerstone (Passive) Lv. 3:

No one can invade the corner of the house without the permission of the Absolute.

Maintaining the Dignity of the Absolute Master of the Corner (Passive) Lv. 1:

Restores normal functions of all corners of the house to maintain dignity.

Corner Absolute Shop Lv. 1:

You can purchase items registered in the store at their regular price.

The Absolute's Wallet in the Corner Lv. Max:

Current balance: 2,203,241 won

---

A total of three new skills had been added.

Among them, it seemed the electricity had been restored thanks to "Maintaining the Dignity of the Absolute Master of the Corner."

'Restores the house's functions to normal? Amazing.'

I quickly got up and ran to the refrigerator.

Woohoo—

The familiar hum of refrigerant greeted me.

Cautiously, I opened the door.

"!!"

Bright light greeted me.

'It's working! The refrigerator is actually running!'

I quickly checked the sink, and water started flowing freely.

The water purifier was back online, and both the gas range and induction stove turned on without any problems.

Even my phone was now connected to Wi-Fi.

'Everything's back to normal, as if the world hadn't been destroyed.'

The TV and computer turned on as well. While there were no regular channels broadcasting, the computer worked perfectly for offline use.

'Still, just seeing the screen light up makes me feel better.'

Before the apocalypse, I'd spent most of my time in front of a monitor.

Looking at the screen of a fully booted computer was oddly comforting, like a piece of my old life was still intact.

'But the internet is useless. No sites are accessible anymore.'

Before the blackout, some sites were still functional, reporting on the chaos caused by the monsters.

Now, nothing remained.

'The servers must have gone down.'

The last live updates from Seoul before the blackout painted a dire picture—massive monsters toppling entire buildings.

'I guess I should count myself lucky to live in Busan.'

At least here, there were no skyscraper-sized monsters.

As I mindlessly browsed through my computer files, a familiar image caught my eye.

It was a photo from a family trip to Jeju Island.

My mother had just bought her first digital camera and had taken hundreds of pictures to make it worth the expense.

Among them was a photo of the three of us, taken by a kind stranger.

"······."

In the picture, my mom and dad were smiling warmly, embracing me from both sides. I was smiling awkwardly, as usual.

"···Mom, Dad."

Hearing the trembling in my voice, I felt tears welling up.

'I have to save them. No matter what.'