“Soap!”

“Shampoo!”

“Facial Wash!”

“Moisturizer!”
“Lotion and Tissu— Ah? I don't need those right now. Huhuhu.”

Yeung went straight for the convenience store washroom after joyfully gathering the essentials. After entering, a piece of paper with two printed words caused his face to make an incredibly sour expression.

[Sink unavailable.]

"Wah—" His eyes darted around the tiled room— eventually landing on a particular clear water surface.

Yeung bit his lips and was immediately faced with a dilemma.

Two days without a bath plus goblin marinade versus public washroom toilet.

Which smelled worse?

“—Let's at least make sure that it's unused water.” Yeung pressed down the toilet flusher's handle.

Watching the water swirl down as it drained, a thought dawned on him. He quickly latched his hands on the toilet's water tank cover and threw it frantically at the side. Despair took hold of him as he saw that the water level wasn't refilling.

“Ah? I could've...”

Yeung pulled at his hair and stared at the toilet water again before sniffing at his blood-stained self.

“Urgh... Choose the lesser of the two evils I guess.”

The sound of scrubbing started echoing from the convenience store's washroom. A few minutes later, Yeung came out with his hair still partially foamy.

“There wasn't enough water...”

He glanced around the store for any large water containers, spotting on the corner of his eye a residential house on the other side of the road.

“Oh! Maybe I could—” He paused, ”—finish washing my hair over there?”

*

After taking a long, cold water bath to rethink his life choices, Yeung returned to the convenience store wearing barely fitting clothes he had found by rummaging through the house across the street.

“Finally, breakfast.”

Normally, he would have never touched frozen lunch packs as they were too unhealthy.

A time like this was an exception, however, as he picked an assortment and heated them up using the store's microwave.

Yeung placed the first spoonful of seasonings he had gotten to taste ever since he was stationed in that remote village.

“How I missed salt. Huhu.” He cried.

Salt was a rare commodity in that area. It wasn't that the villagers weren't aware of its existence, it was that they preferred to cook and eat their dishes with simplicity.

“I should pack up, since I don't know when I might get to eat again.”

After enjoying a hearty meal, Yeung emptied his large bag and stuffed what essentials he could. He disregarded the unnecessary— frozen food, juice, ice cream— he only took what could last him long-term and was needed.

“Water, instant noodles, junk food, beer— oh, is this a new flavor of soju I see? Huhuhu.”

Feeling refreshed and fed, Yeung continued on his way.

*

Ting... Ting.... Ting....

The sound of glass bottles hitting against each other— At first, he had regretted packing a lot and thought that he should've opted for cans instead, but after a kilometer into his walk, he started loosening his vigilance. There was an obvious lack of huts and black smoke as he walked along the road heading to his home.

“Hmm? Could the toll bridge be the only place taken over by goblins?”
Yeung shook his head as he came upon parts of the road painted with red and decorated with dead goblins. It seemed someone else was cleaning up gobs, he thought.

“Wahh—Who could have done this? Where could all the other people have gone?”

It's not that Yeung was feeling lonely, but after walking by himself for two days, he wanted a conversation partner who had more than just “Guaak!” in his vocabulary.

“Guaaak.” It wasn't a goblin. 

It was Yeung talking to himself.
“Guak Guaak Guaak.” A habit he had developed over his two-day isolation.

“Guaak?”
While fooling around with goblin language, he reached a peculiar area. He saw more green-skins, dead ones. Scattered around in front of a quaint house.

“Guuak??? (This house—?)”

BANG!

Yeung flinched. He glanced at the small hole in front of his left foot and bent down.

“?Wah—? A bullet? Someone shot at me?”
He had never heard the sound of a gunshot in person.

“Get the hell away f-from my house you l-looter!!!”

“Hmm? Looter? Me?”

Yeung looked up at an open window. The barrel of something he'd only ever seen in a shooting game or a movie was sticking out.

“Yeah, you!!! W-who else but a looter w-would be carrying a bag that big!!!”

In a novel cliché, the person pointing a gun at him while throwing accusations would be a perfect way to introduce the other lead. Sadly, the voice that Yeung was hearing wasn't that of a prospective love interest. He wasn't gay.

“Ugh... The first person I meet after coming back, why does it have to be this guy...”

Nope. Even if he was gay, it wouldn't be for this guy.

“W-what are you m-muttering over there!?”

“Wear your glasses and take a good look at who you're pointing that gun at, you military otaku!” Yeung yelled.

“...”

Silence.

The barrel of the gun retreated and clacking noises were heard from the darkness. A few seconds later, the door to the house was opened and a large man wearing a camouflage shirt came out. He adjusted the frame of his glasses as he stared at Yeung.

“It's me, you idiot. Did your eyes get worse after playing computer games in the dark for too long? And where the hell did you get a gun!?”

The military otaku with an insanely deep voice. His name was Dokk, a long time friend of Yeung's.

“...Y-Yeung? Is it really you?”

“It's me. I'm sure that even with your bad eyesight, you'll be able to recognize this handsome mug of mine. Huhuhu.” Yeung smirked.

“O-oh— it really is you.”

“Yeah? And what's with this?” He pointed to the gunshot hole in front of his foot.

“H-have to be careful, you know? You don't know how people would react when it's the end of the world.”

“End of the world? Do you have an idea of what's happening here?”

“Nah, n-no idea. Had my c-complete isolation gear on for gaming week. When the internet died two days ago, I r-raged and decided to complain about it to the provider but when I took a step outside—“ Dokk raised his chin towards the scattered goblins.

“Pfft! To think that you were left behind in an apocalypse scenario because you were playing games.”

Dokk was a computer addict. A couple of years back, he entered into the military but went AWOL because he couldn't handle being separated from the internet. He learned all about how to handle guns before deserting.

“Good thing I recognized your voice, I was sure you'd never be able to hit me with that awful accuracy of yours.”

He was an addict, but without his glasses, his eyesight made him an incredibly poor aim.

“N-no worries about that!” Dokk boasted, ”Thanks to the exclusive skill I got after reaching level 5, I wouldn't miss a target even if I wanted to.”

Skill? What was he talking about? Yeung thought.

“Did you hit your head or something?”

“Nope, w-why'd you— nevermind. Anyways, with your f-freakish strength, you must've killed some gobs right, Yeung? What level do you have right now?”

Uhhh... Level? Seriously, what was this oaf talking about? Yeung furrowed his brows and squinted.

He looked at Dokk with skeptic eyes, “What are you going on about?”