Absolute Dweller

[Episode 01] The Absolute Dweller (1)

For now, it’s possible to grasp and turn the doorknob of the entrance door.

But the moment I push the door, a sensation as if blocked by a transparent wall occurs, and the following message appears.

[The Absolute Dweller cannot leave the dwelling space.]

“Ah, damn!”

The doorknob turns, but the door won’t open.

‘I have to somehow get outside…’

I know.

At this point, going outside is an insane idea.

The sole reason I’ve survived until now is entirely thanks to my ability.

Outside, dangerous monsters are lurking.

Encountering just one monster bird that slammed its head into the living room window could turn someone like me into a meal.

Nevertheless, despite the danger, I had two reasons to go outside.

One is family.

‘Mom, Dad, even grandparents.’

All my beloved family members are outside.

[The Absolute Dweller cannot leave the dwelling space.]

“Sigh…”

There were somewhat complicated reasons for being separated from my family.

Three rooms. Two bathrooms. In this 30-square-meter apartment, including the narrow space where the living room and kitchen are combined, I was the only one technically living here.

My father’s choice led us to buy this apartment, combining a bank loan of 200 million and our family’s entire property of 200 million.

Father’s gamble paid off, and the apartment we bought for 400 million surpassed 1 billion in just half a year.

As someone not born with a silver spoon, the reason I could afford to live alone in such a luxurious apartment was to fulfill the actual residency of two years to benefit from tax reductions.

To avoid a tax bomb, I had to hold onto the house for at least two years before selling it, and that’s how I ended up guarding the house during that time.

Of course, things didn’t go smoothly afterward.

The collapsed economy due to COVID-19 and war affected the real estate market, and the house value that surpassed 1 billion plummeted to 700 million.

Moreover, the interest on the money borrowed from the bank was soaring, making it quite precarious.

‘That’s now a futile story.’

Whether the world has collapsed or not, whether it’s the bank debt or the fluctuation of apartment prices, what does it matter?

Especially when I can’t sell it anyway.

‘Please be safe.’

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

[···Connecting···]

As expected.

Just like the past three days, no change occurred, no matter how long I waited.

Phone calls, messages, KakaoTalk—everything was dead.

Knowing it wouldn’t work, I opened KakaoTalk and attempted to send a message.

-Mom, are you okay?

“Please, just…”

But as expected, the results were the same.

⟳ Mom, are you okay?

The message didn’t send; instead, the resend button appeared.

Then it happened.

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

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

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

Curious, I looked at the top of my phone, and there was an icon indicating that the data was disconnected.

“Damn.”

I somewhat expected it.

In fact, it was more surprising that the data had held up for three days.

Large websites like Google and Naver had become inaccessible on the day the world collapsed.

Frustrated, I clenched my fist, but it didn’t change anything.

‘I have to figure something out.’

This wasn’t the only problem.

‘If I stay trapped like this, I’ll starve to death.’

Not only the internet but everything was getting cut off.

Water, electricity, gas, and more.

Essential elements for daily life were disappearing rapidly.

‘At least there’s enough water.’

Fortunately, I had ordered plenty of water from Coupang.

There were twenty 2-liter bottles and forty-seven 500ml bottles, all filled to the brim, whether in bottles or cups.

I ordered it to avoid the hassle of boiling filtered water each time, and laziness had inadvertently saved me.

‘The problem is food.’

Yesterday, the electricity went out, causing the refrigerator to lose power. Simultaneously, all the side dishes in the refrigerator faced their inevitable demise.

Despite trying to keep the door closed and relying on the cold air in the freezer, it wouldn’t last for long.

‘There are only a few packs of instant noodles left.’

All that remained were three mild-flavored Jin Ramen packs.

‘If I knew it would come to this, I should have bought instant noodles in bulk…’

Thanks to my parents, who replenished the refrigerator with side dishes every week, I never thought about stocking up on food.

Now, the remaining food would barely last a week.

‘Even if I eat sparingly, it will eventually run out.’

Ultimately, it meant I had to go outside to survive.

However.

[The Absolute Dweller cannot leave the dwelling space.]

“…”

Thanks to this ability that completely protected me from fierce monsters, I would eventually starve to death.

When the food runs out, I’ll slowly wither away from hunger.

‘This is the worst.’

With a desperate heart, I reached out through the living room window.

If only I could go out, even if it meant going through the window.

But.

[The Absolute Dweller cannot leave the dwelling space.]

“Damn it!”

I threw a punch towards that now annoying message.

Along with the sensation of hitting a solid wall, my fist stung.

‘What kind of “absolute dweller” can’t even go outside his own territory?’

‘…Pathetic.’

Even now, in this collapsed world, I remained the same.

A filial son who wouldn’t step outside and leech off his parents, not even providing for them.

A 28-year-old parasite, still relying on his parents for allowance and shamelessly eating their food.

A worthless leech that didn’t contribute anything to the world.

“…Damn.”

But then, a notification sound.

“…Huh?”

A message appeared, something I hadn’t seen once in the past three days.

[Hunted Kellican (Lv. 23).]

‘Kellican?’

Right after that.

[Acquired a large amount of experience points.]

[Skill level has increased.]

[Skill level has increased.]

Numerous new messages appeared.

As I observed them, I suddenly recalled the massive bird creature that crashed heavily against the living room window.

I extended my head out of the window to check below.

“Squawk!”

“Kyaak!”

Around the carcass of the monster bird, dozens of small creatures with greenish skin, goblins, were swarming, feasting on it.

Viewed from the high-rise, it looked like an ant swarm.

‘Are they finishing what’s left?’

It seemed that the goblins hunted the monster bird after it lost consciousness from the impact.

Strictly speaking, I was the one who knocked out the monster bird, so I gained experience points too.

Thanks to that, my skill level had risen by two steps.

‘Well, leveling up the homebound skill won’t be of much use.’

However, that judgment was too hasty.

[Acquired a new skill.]

[There are loot items nearby that meet the conditions.]

[Initiating loot settlement.]

“Huh?”

Right after checking the unfamiliar notifications, a change occurred.

“Keaaak!!”

“What… what is this?”

Startled by the sudden outbreak of goblins, I hastily looked down again.

There, a slightly different scene unfolded where the feast had taken place.

The festive atmosphere was completely gone, and the goblins around were uttering desperate screams.

‘Why is this happening?’

The reason for the goblins’ outbreak was the change in the monster bird’s carcass.

‘Is it disappearing?’

Parts of the monster bird’s carcass were vanishing in real-time.

From the goblins’ perspective, it was as if the meat of their prey was decreasing in real-time.

So, they could do nothing but scream.

[Loot settlement completed.]

After checking the message, I looked down.

‘The corpse has decreased by about a third…’

[Funds of 2,203,241 won have been deposited into the Absolute Dweller’s wallet.]

Seeing the number in the new message, I instinctively muttered.

‘Tens, hundreds of thousands, millions… Two million won? Suddenly deposited?’

For me, who usually received allowance, two million won was an enormous sum of money.

‘What on earth is happening…’

Before I could comprehend the situation, another change occurred.

Flash

The living room became a bit brighter.

It only reached a level slightly brighter than midday, but nonetheless, it brightened.

‘I-is electricity back?’

It was certain that the electricity had been cut off yesterday.

I didn’t know the exact reason, but the appearance of monsters likely caused severe damage to the city infrastructure.

It wouldn’t have been possible for it to recover this quickly.

‘It’s the skill! I clearly got a new skill earlier!’

In a hurry, I opened the status window to check the changes in the skill.

[The Absolute Dweller]

Absolute Dweller’s Declaration (Passive) Lv. 3

-No one can invade the dwelling space without the permission of the absolute dweller.

Dignity Maintenance of the Absolute Dweller (Passive) Lv. 1

-Restores the functions of the entire dwelling space to maintain dignity.

Shop of the Absolute Dweller Lv. 1

-Allows purchasing registered items in the shop at regular prices.

Wallet of the Absolute Dweller Lv. Max

-Current balance: 2,203,240 won

Three new skills had been added.

Among them, the return of electricity seemed to be due to the skill ‘Dignity Maintenance of the Absolute Dweller.’

‘Restores the functions of the entire dwelling space for dignity maintenance?’

I quickly stood up and ran to where the refrigerator was.

Woong

The refrigerator, which had become a makeshift icebox when the electricity went out, was now making the sound of the refrigerant circulating.

Squeak

I cautiously grabbed the refrigerator door and applied a bit of force.

“!!”

As soon as I opened the refrigerator door, light greeted me.

“It’s working! Electricity has really come back!”

Not just the refrigerator.

Right next to it, water was flowing from the sink, and the water purifier started working properly. The gas stove and induction also lit up correctly.

Curious, I checked my phone and found that the Wi-Fi was connected.

‘It really returned to normal. To before the world collapsed…!’

With the return of electricity, the TV and computer also powered on.

Of course, the TV, which only transmitted a flickering screen without normal channels, was somewhat useless.

However, the computer could still play offline games, so it wasn’t entirely useless.

‘But seeing a fully functional monitor does bring relief.’

Before the world collapsed, I spent most of my time in front of the monitor.

Perhaps that’s why just looking at the normally booted computer screen brought a sense of peace.

Could it be said that it felt like returning to before the world collapsed?

‘Internet is connected, but… as expected, there are no accessible sites.’

Before the electricity was cut off, there were sites that could be accessed.

There were constant reports about the worldwide appearance of monsters and related damages.

But now, there wasn’t a single site that I could access.

‘The servers must have gone down.’

Until the electricity was cut off, I could access sites that provided real-time updates on the situation in Seoul.

There, giant monsters were demolishing entire buildings.

‘At least I’m fortunate to be in Busan.’

There were no giant monsters comparable to high-rises in Busan.

While absentmindedly searching through the computer, I noticed something.

‘This is…’

It was a file of pictures taken when my family went on a trip to Jeju Island a long time ago.

Back then, my mom, who had just bought a digital camera, took over a hundred pictures to get her money’s worth.

Among them, a picture of the three of us taken by someone else caught my eye.

“…”

In the photo, I had an awkward smile, while my mom and dad embraced me from both sides, smiling happily.

“Mom, Dad.”

My voice trembled and it felt like tears could pour out at any moment.

‘I have to bring Mom and Dad back. Absolutely.’