"How about joining up with us, then?" He asked, "We're staying at an apartment complex in the quiet part of town, too. It's still mainly untouched, and there's a lot of rooms to choose from."
Hyun and his sister looked at each other for a moment after this prospect was laid out for them. Though for some reason, Hyun looked a bit melancholic at this offer.
"The more the merrier, right?" Kamou added in.
"...I don't know," Hyun said quietly, grabbing his sister's hand and holding it, "...I appreciate what you've all done for us, but…it's hard to trust people in this new world we're living in."
"Huh? Are ya' saying we're scumbags like that other–"
Before Myung-Hee could get properly offended, she was held back by the silver-haired girl, who grabbed onto her arm, shaking her head softly to dissuade whatever she felt from those words.
"I'm not saying anything like that," Hyun adjusted his words, looking at them, "But, it's about risk. We've made it this far by ourselves…I feel like changing that now would…I don't know."
"If it's about risk, then joining us would be your best bet," he told him.
"Huh?"
"What's there to think about? Five is a lot stronger than two, isn't it? It goes the same for us–five is a lot better than three. If we work together, we can make it through this–I don't have any doubt about it," he assured Hyun.
Being told this, Hyun looked at his younger sister, who looked up at him with eyes that seemed convinced by the words just spoken.
"...Five is better than two, huh? When you put it that way…I guess I don't have any other choice, do I?" Hyun laughed.
"Pretty much," he smiled.
With that settled, they invited the two siblings to their party with a single command of the interface.
[Kamou Yoo. Level 12. Health Points: 2700/2700]
[Myung-Hee Yun. Level 12. Health Points: 3000/3000]
[Hyun Choo. Level 10. Health Points: 2150/2150]
[Ara Choo Level 10. Health Points: 2100/2100]
With four names present on his interface, it was feeling like a real, promising party now as he smiled to himself.
"...Alright, we should probably head back," he suggested.
Ara nodded, "Being out here during the night is no good…"
"I've only heard about it," Kamou said, "...there are different Defects that come out during the night, aren't there?"
As this question was asked, the group already began to walk through the abandoned, overgrowth-laden city to return to the quiet neighborhood while the sky turned to a warm orange with the sun beginning to sink beneath the horizon.
Despite the abandoned nature of the once bustling city, the trees still stood tall, flourishing with their multi-colored leaves–some green, others yellow, and some turned a deep, falling brown.
Some of the city lights still came on with the prospect of night approaching, returning just a glimpse of Jung before its fall.
"Yeah," Hyun answered Kamou's question, walking closely beside his sister, "We've been caught out at night before–in this city, actually."
"How was that?" Myung-Hee asked, staying at the back of the group as some sort of watch, making sure nothing came from behind.
"It was worse than you could imagine, honestly…" Hyun laughed a bit, but it seemed whatever memories he had of it were terrifying as he sweated a bit, "There were hordes of them. Most of them had all-black skin, some wore some sort of armor–they were constantly climbing the walls, hopping from building to building…I thought we were goners, for sure."
"How'd you make it out of that?" He asked.
"I used a few spells to bring a lot of cars around the city into one, big pile so that we could take shelter," Ara answered his question.
It was a bit of a surprise to him as his eyes widened a bit, "That was you?!"
"What?" Ara raised one of her hazel eyebrows at him.
"That mountain of cars totally saved our butts earlier," he laughed.
"Really?" Hyun laughed with him.
Lost in a bit of a laugh and further conversation, it didn't seem like it took long before they all arrived back at the apartment complex in the quiet section of Jung.
By the time they arrived, it seemed as if the sun was only minutes from properly descending.
"This is it?" Hyun asked.
"It's not much, but it's still untouched by the Armageddon, mostly…" He chuckled, rubbing his head.
"No, it's great!" Hyun assured him.
"Yeah…it's honestly been awhile since we stayed somewhere proper," Ara added.
Even though the asphalt of the parking lot had become painted in now dried, old blood, it seemed that was just the natural shade of the world by this point.
"Anyway, you can pick any complex you want, really," he told them.
"Yeah?" Hyun asked with a smile, looking at his sister who shared in his joy.
Kamou tugged on his sleeve a bit, catching his attention before the two siblings could choose their new room.
"What?" He whispered to her.
"Do I have to tell you?" Kamou looked up at him.
Yeah, you kinda do!...Well, I think I get it, he thought.
Calling out to the two, he stopped them, "Well, for tonight, how about you crash with us?"
"Is that alright, man? Isn't one place going to be packed with five people there?" Hyun asked, holding his sister's hand.
"I was planning to make a pretty big dinner, so…" He scratched his cheek.
Just the mention of "dinner" as a concept was enough to make both of the siblings' stomachs growl out, prompting both of them to blush out of sheer embarrassment.
"...I'm taking that as a yes," he laughed.
"Please take care of us," Hyun nodded fervently to hide his embarrassment.
Entering into his apartment, he could immediately tell how cramped it'd be with all five of them in there, but he wasn't much bothered by it, letting Kamou and Myung-hee help them settle in while he set himself in the kitchen.