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Don’t talk too much.
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Don’t expect emotional responses.
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If he says you’re “useful,” run.
And right now, Yoo Eunsae had just broken the third rule—by merely existing.
Lee Aseok turned to her, eyes like burnt amber, unreadable as always, and said in that dangerously calm tone:
“You’re useful.”
A full stop. No explanation.
That single word echoed through the air with the weight of a death sentence.
Mu Yichen’s expression tightened immediately.
Park Taegun gave an almost imperceptible wince.
Seo MinHyun, dramatic as always, dragged his hand down his face like he’d just watched someone trip and fall into a volcano.
He Ziqin gave Eunsae a long, pitying glance and slowly handed her a second protein bar. Just in case.
Yoo Eunsae blinked, unsure whether to thank him or start crying.
“…Why do you all look like someone just got drafted into a punishment quest?” she asked cautiously.
“Because someone just did,” Seo MinHyun muttered.
Kang Juwon snorted. “Congratulations. You’re officially on the ‘Aseok Roster.’ Enjoy never having a lunch break again.”
Eunsae looked at the protein bar in her hand like it was a last meal.
Yoo Areum, on the other hand, looked like she was about to explode.
Her entire life had been curated, carefully styled, polished, and enhanced to make her shine. She was Yoo Areum. S-rank. Beauty incarnate.
The beloved daughter of one of Korea’s wealthiest conglomerate families. She’d walked into this situation assuming Lee Aseok would be the next gem in her crown.
Instead, he walked past her like she was scenery.
Now, everyone was focusing on Yoo Eunsae, who until two hours ago didn’t even have a proper combat uniform. The sister she had always viewed as a background character.
Yoo Areum trembled in place.
Seo MinHyun leaned toward Taegun and whispered, “Should we take a few steps back in case she explodes?”
“She might combust,” Taegun muttered back. “Stand behind a tree.”
But Lee Aseok wasn’t paying attention to any of them.
He was thinking about land. Specifically, the West Zone.
A godforsaken stretch of abandoned urban decay, cursed buildings, overgrown streets, and zero property tax.
A ghost town.
Which made it perfect.
The west zone had become a no-man’s-land after the second wave of dungeon breaches. No civilians. No surveillance. No nosy guild agents.
The monsters there were manageable enough that they didn’t warrant serious attention, but dangerous enough that no one wanted to live there.
To Lee Aseok, that was called ideal living conditions.
A place no one wanted was the only place safe from interference.
But even Lee Aseok knew that living in a ruined wasteland wasn’t sustainable. Not anymore. Especially not with Pudding in tow.
His massive husky had recently started trying to dig a bed under the concrete wall of their hideout. Which meant, unfortunately…
“I need better flooring,” Aseok muttered under his breath.
“Huh?” Eunsae blinked.
He turned toward He Ziqin, voice calm, tone final.
“Teleport us to the West Zone.”
He Ziqin blinked. “Us?”
Aseok looked at Yoo Eunsae, who visibly startled at the sudden attention. “Her too.”
“I—I never said I wanted to—”
“You don’t need to.”
Seo MinHyun’s head popped up. “Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean ‘us’?”
Aseok didn’t answer.
Instead, he calmly walked over to Pudding, picked up his dog, and slung him under one arm like a noble steed preparing for war.
Mu Yichen raised a brow. “You’re going back there?”
Park Taegun crossed his arms. “You lived in that place for over a year. Thought you were done with it.”
Aseok glanced at them without emotion. “It’s quiet.”
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Seo MinHyun scoffed. “It’s quiet because there are no people there. Or roofs. Or doors. Or plumbing. You called the west zone ‘a place where even ghosts check out early.’”
“It grew on me.”
Kang Juwon, who had been silently observing with that unreadable little smirk of his, chuckled. “West zone?? Interesting.”
Pudding let out a cheerful bark, clearly ready for adventure. Or maybe a nap.
Yoo Areum stomped forward, clearly having had enough.
“You’re just going to ignore me?! Again?! I’m an S-rank healer!” she snapped. “You need me more than her!”
Lee Aseok didn’t even look at her.
“I have no use for arrogance,” he said bluntly.
It landed like a slap.
Mu Yichen quietly stepped between them before the situation escalated into fireballs and lawsuits. “Yoo Areum-ssi, perhaps it’s best to cool down—”
“I AM COOL!” she barked.
Park Taegun looked at her and then looked away calmly.“…Right.”
Meanwhile, Eunsae was standing frozen, still trying to process the fact that she was about to be teleported with Lee Aseok to a post-apocalyptic suburb with unknown expectations.
“Wh-what exactly am I supposed to do in the west zone?” she asked.
Lee Aseok finally glanced back at her.
“Grow things.”
“…Grow what?”
“Whatever doesn’t die in concrete.”
“…What?”
Aseok didn’t explain. He never did.
His thoughts were already racing ahead. The West Zone was perfect. Empty. Forgotten.
Detached from the chaos of the world. It was the only place where he didn’t have to pretend to be a hero or a monster.
But it needed changes now. Not just for himself.
For Pudding.
Aseok looked down at the fluffy husky in his arms.
“Your bathhouse needs better ventilation.”
Pudding wagged his tail approvingly.
Everyone else stared.
“Bathhouse? For the dog?” Yoo Areum finally asked, voice high with disbelief.
Aseok ignored her entirely. Again.
That alone made Yoo Areum’s eye twitch like she was developing a second personality.
She stormed forward. “I’m coming too.”
“You’re not invited,” Park Taegun said flatly.
“I don’t care!”
“Do you even know what we’re doing?”
“No, but it’s obviously important, and my S-rank skills shouldn’t go to waste! Unlike some people..” She glanced sharply at Yoo Eunsae.
Eunsae, who had been trying to discreetly shuffle behind a tree, froze.
“…I just wanted to walk my sister to the car,” she whispered to no one in particular.
Meanwhile, He Ziqin sighed deeply, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
“I should’ve taken that offer from the alchemist guild,” he muttered. “At least they had dental plans.”
Still, with the full weight of Lee Aseok’s quiet glare pointed in his direction, He Ziqin activated his spatial movement array. Magic symbols circled beneath their feet as he waved his hand.
“Fine. All of you who are going—stand still.”
There was a brief moment of chaos.
Seo MinHyun scrambled to grab his jacket and three energy bars.
Park Taegun handed Yoo Eunsae a helmet with no explanation.
Mu Yichen just looked resigned.
And Kang Juwon pulled out sunglasses. It wasn’t even sunny.
“Why are you wearing—?”
“For dramatic effect,” Kang Juwon cut in.
Pudding barked once.
The teleportation magic ignited, and in a brilliant flash of light, the group vanished.
The West Zone was a special place.
By “special,” it meant that everything looked like it had been through five wars, three earthquakes, and one extremely messy divorce.
Crumbling buildings slouched into each other like drunk old men.
The sky was gray even though it was 2PM. A chill hung in the air that made even Yoo Areum’s well-conditioned hair frizz in protest.
The only one thrilled to be there was Pudding.
The husky immediately leapt out of Lee Aseok’s arms and bolted into a pile of collapsed trash bags with the joy of someone discovering a treasure chest.
“…Is this a warzone?” Yoo Areum asked in horror.
“No,” Seo MinHyun said. “Worse. It’s Aseok’s house.”
Park Taegun, unfazed, looked around calmly. “Yep. Same broken window, same smell of burning rubber. Really brings back memories.”
“Memories of what?” Yoo Eunsae asked, horrified.
“Regret,” Mu Yichen said gently.
Kang Juwon added, “And mild fungal infections.”
Yoo Eunsae shivered and clutched her sleeves. “And he lived here?”
“He thrived here,” Seo MinHyun said ominously.
Lee Aseok, however, wasn’t listening to any of this.
He turned to He Ziqin and pointed at a distant, slouching five-story building whose top floor seemed to be missing a roof.
“There,” he said.
He Ziqin blinked. “You want to teleport now? We just got here.”
Aseok didn’t respond. He just kept pointing.
He Ziqin sighed like a man who knew he’d have arthritis in both knees before thirty.
“Fine, fine. Let’s all pretend I’m not being treated like a magical taxi.”
He activated his ability again with barely veiled resentment.
“You know,” he mumbled as the glyphs lit up around his feet, “I used to be a respected researcher. I had rights. Chairs with back support. Now I carry boxes and teleport introverts.”
And with that, he and Lee Aseok vanished, leaving the rest of the group standing awkwardly in the middle of nowhere.
Yoo Areum looked around at the lifeless wasteland and clutched her purse like it could protect her from tetanus.
“Where did they go?”
“Shopping,” Seo MinHyun said.
Yoo Eunsae gave him a look.
“…Okay fine. Probably to pick up supplies.”
“Or weapons,” Taegun added.
“Or more dogs,” Kang Juwon offered helpfully.
“Wait, seriously, what is going on here?” Yoo Eunsae asked, turning to the group. “Why is he so obsessed with this place?”
Mu Yichen answered calmly, as if he were explaining gravity.
“This entire area belongs to Lee Aseok.”
“What?”
“He bought it.”
“…Why?”
“To be alone.”
Eunsae blinked. “He bought an entire abandoned zone just so people would stop bothering him?”
“Yes,” said Taegun.
Yoo Eunsae rubbed her arms and muttered, “This place really is… empty.”
“No one lives here,” said Mu Yichen. “No one wants to.”
“So we’re going to rebuild it?”
“If that’s what Aseok wants.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s his.”
That answer somehow made sense and no sense at the same time.
There were many things Yoo Eunsae had expected when she tagged along with her sister to meet the hero team.
A brief handshake. Maybe a polite nod.
Definitely not this.
“Did he just…” she began.
“Yes,” Seo MinHyun confirmed, standing beside her with the expression of someone watching a car crash in slow motion. “You’ll get used to this. Truse me.”
In the middle of the infamous, monster-infested West Zone.
Pudding barked with pride, proudly chewing on the corner of what had once been a traffic sign.
It had all happened so quickly.
One moment, everyone was staring at the wasteland. The next, a bright light flashed and Lee Aseok and He Ziqin appeared Ziqin, half-collapsed under the weight of several boxes.
Aseok, somehow completely unaffected, holding a large rolled map in one hand and what looked suspiciously like a gardening catalog in the other.
He Ziqin let the boxes hit the ground with a dusty thud and sighed like a broken kettle.
“I studied dimensional physics for this,” he muttered.
Lee Aseok, ignoring everyone as always, walked toward Yoo Eunsae and handed her the large map.
No explanation. No context. Just a single blink before he turned and opened the boxes with the ceremonial grace of someone unveiling treasure.
Inside were seeds.
Not just a few. Not even a hundred.
Thousands.
Packets and vials and even little glass jars, carefully labeled in faded ink. Apples, cherries, moonlights, spider tulips, glowing mushrooms, banana peppers, thorned roses, flame-touched grass, something called “night crocus,” and an item labeled “??? (do not eat)” which looked like a pebble with anger issues.
Yoo Eunsae stared down at the map in her hand.
It wasn’t just a doodle.
It was a detailed, color-coded blueprint of the West Zone. Paths, clearings, flowerbeds, sun zones, shaded napping areas, dog bathhouses, and even what looked like a small hill labeled “Pudding’s Favorite Lookout Point (Pending Elevation).”
She looked up.
Lee Aseok, now crouched beside Pudding, was gently brushing debris out of the dog’s fur while murmuring something that sounded suspiciously like, “We’ll plant strawberries near the south wall.”
Pudding woofed in agreement.
“Is… is he serious?” Yoo Eunsae finally asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Oh, he’s dead serious,” Park Taegun said.
Mu Yichen folded his arms with a long-suffering sigh. “You’re officially hired.”
“For what?!” she squeaked.
Author Note:
Thank you for reading and for screaming in the comments—your suffering is my fuel.
Every “OH MY GOD ASEOK STOP” gives me the strength to write the next disaster.
Mon ? Wed ? Fri
(Yes, I too question my life choices.)
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