This World is too Cruel to Men

“Okay, now if I just hammer this in…”

With a rock I’d picked up as a makeshift hammer, I pounded the stake into the ground with a ‘thud thud’.

The long and arduous task of setting up the tent was finally over.

And around me, now that the tent was up…

“Ugh… I’m dying…”

“This was way harder than I thought…”

Two nearly lifeless bodies were sprawled on the ground.

Instead of feeling proud, I felt exasperated.

Seriously, it wasn’t like we set up a massive 24-person tent.

We put up one tiny little thing, and they’re acting like they’re on the verge of death.

With stamina that pathetic, how are they going to survive in the military?

Clicking my tongue at the two of them lying there as naturally as if they were glued to the ground, I muttered to myself, then suddenly realized something.

“Oh, right.”

This isn’t a country with mandatory military service.

It’s voluntary.

That meant I wouldn’t be getting drafted like in my previous life.

Unless I suddenly went crazy one day and started muttering, “Hee hee… military… good…” while filling out an application, that is.

Of course, being free from military worries meant I’d have to jump into the job market right after high school graduation, worrying about my future and employment.

So why not just enlist?

Well, I’d heard some people actually made that choice.

I’d only overheard it in passing, so I didn’t know the specific advantages of taking that path.

“Still…”

Since it was a voluntary system, wouldn’t the treatment be better than what I experienced firsthand in my previous life?

The life of a soldier I’d lived back then was practically that of a cheap slave, so it couldn’t get much worse than that.

“Thinking about it makes me angry…”

Not only did I have to rot in that hellhole for two years under the guise of national defense, but I also got ripped off every time I went out on leave… And clueless girls online babbled about how the military is just like camping…

“…How did I even survive?”

Looking back, it was a miracle I hadn’t deserted.

Anyway… Since I didn’t have even a single positive memory of the military, no matter how good the treatment was, I wanted to keep that option as a last resort, even among the last resorts.

And more than anything… weren’t the soldiers in this world people who genuinely risked their lives?

Since ridiculously powerful beings called Heroes existed, they were more likely to be deployed for cleanup than frontline combat… but cleanup didn’t mean it was completely safe.

Since being a soldier in this world meant being deployed to places where Villain or Another remnants who had evaded the Heroes could pop up at any moment, honestly, it wasn’t very appealing.

It must have been because the tent’s color reminded me of army green that I’d gotten lost in thought.

The girls, who had disappeared with an armful of supplies from the refrigerator, saying they were going to wash lettuce and such, returned to the pension.

The first thing they noticed upon their return was the tent standing proudly in the yard.

“Oh, wow. It’s all set up?”

They hadn’t been gone that long, but they must not have expected it to be finished so quickly.

Pure admiration appeared on their faces.

“Ahem, we were just taking it easy earlier. If we’d put our minds to it, this is nothing…”

And of course, there was one guy who wouldn’t miss a chance to show off.

His name was Jinho.

Since I clearly remembered him whining the entire time we were setting up the tent, his bragging was incredibly irritating, but… I stayed silent.

I figured I shouldn’t interfere with my friend trying to show off in front of the girl he liked.

I couldn’t even offer a word of support, let alone hinder him.

“No way… Dokgun must have done it all. Typical.”

And as expected, justice prevailed.

See? I didn’t even say a word, and people recognized my efforts.

“No, I helped too! We couldn’t have set it up without me!”

If he was going to show off, he should have stuck to his guns.

He was acting like a child, getting flustered after just one comment.

“Sigh…”

This was hopeless.

“Of course, of course. Anyway, now that the tent is set up, shall we start preparing dinner?”

“Huh? Already?”

“Wait… Am I the only one hungry?”

Well, it was about that time.

We’d all been entranced by the rich broth and eaten plenty of rice, but there were only two chickens in the Spicy Braised Chicken.

Six people sharing that meant we’d get hungry again quickly, even considering the potatoes and other ingredients.

As if on cue, Jinho, who’d been complaining about eating dinner so soon after lunch, let out a rumbling stomach growl

“Guess we should eat. Seven PM is a good time for dinner. I’m in.”

“What? It’s only seven? I thought it was around nine.”

“This is technically a mountain area, you know. Maybe that’s why it gets dark earlier?”

Well, that might be a factor, but the fact that it was winter was probably the bigger reason.

Anyway… since everyone seemed to agree on dinner, it was time to start preparing.

Since we’d decided on barbecue, there wasn’t much to prepare.

Just cutting up the vegetables to grill with the meat?

We decided to leave the sweet potatoes we’d bought as a backup untouched.

Thanks to Jinho’s aunt’s generosity, the meat had practically multiplied, so grilling the sweet potatoes would just mean leftovers.

It was better to keep them and wrap them in foil later for roasted sweet potatoes.

While I was diligently wrapping the sweet potatoes in foil, thinking I might as well finish this while I was at it…

“Huh? Are we having roasted sweet potatoes too?”

Yun-Seo, who knew a good roasted sweet potato when she saw one, appeared as if by magic, even though there wasn’t even a smell yet.

Her behavior was a bit unexpected.

After the deep impact incident at the trampoline park, she’d been acting strangely awkward around me, so I thought it would last at least until the next morning.

But to think she’d recover so quickly.

Was this the power of camping?

“Why? Want me to make you one?”

“Were you really planning on eating all of those by yourself?”

“Sorry, but I don’t share my roasted sweet potatoes with anyone.”

“I thought it was quiet this winter… Honestly, your obsession with roasted sweet potatoes…”

Roasted sweet potatoes were delicious in the summer, but even more so in the winter.

Especially when they were cooked over a campfire on a cold, windy night like this.

“There’s no resisting.”

Just imagining pulling a piping hot roasted sweet potato out of the fire, peeling back the skin with a gloved hand, and taking a big bite of the steaming, bright yellow flesh made my mouth water.

And she was complaining about this?

“So you’re not going to eat any?”

“Well… Make me one then.”

Just as I thought.

She was already a captive of the roasted sweet potato’s allure, yet she was nagging needlessly…

“Then take these outside.”

“Ugh… What’s the harm in just making me one?”

“It’ll harm me.”

With Yun-Seo’s enthusiastic cooperation, the barbecue preparations were quickly finished.

And then, I finally got a good look at today’s barbecue ingredients… Honestly, I was impressed.

The pork belly we bought was just ordinary pork belly, so there wasn’t much to admire, but the meat Jinho’s aunt had given us was the ‘real deal’.

As if she had really splurged on her nephew’s graduation present, the marbling was like a flower.

So this was why people called it “flower sirloin.”

Maybe that was why it sizzled differently as soon as it hit the grill.

“This…”

Maybe I should have grilled the beef last?

After eating this, everyone might find the pork belly too bland.

I had that thought, but it didn’t take long to realize how foolish it was and how much I’d underestimated the appetites of teenagers.

Even if we hadn’t eaten quite enough for lunch, was this even possible?

Everyone had black holes in their stomachs or something.

Even with the large grill working at full capacity, the meat couldn’t cook fast enough to keep up with the rate it was disappearing.

My grand plan of sneaking a few bites while grilling was thwarted.

“Damn…”

These ungrateful… If someone is working this hard grilling meat, at least one person should bring them a lettuce wrap, right?

As I was lamenting internally…

‘Crunch…’

The sound of someone stepping on the gravel echoed, and then—

“…Hey.”

“Huh?”

A carefully wrapped lettuce wrap, packed tight to prevent spillage, was shoved next to my face.

“…Eat.”

A slightly gruff voice accompanied it.