After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World

A society was made of people and must therefore be handled by them.

Although there would be plenty of inefficiencies and perhaps there would also be errors, at least compared to relying completely on the system, Althea didn’t mind.

Only when there was room for growth would people actually do so. She would never allow her people to become stagnant and be left behind by the times.

Back to the justice system, she mused that there would definitely be more gray-area conflicts in the future than any other.

She wanted the territory to have an objective system, which the Universe system assisted with, but at the same time she didn’t want this ’organism’ to be a callous robot.

The delicate balance must still be reached somehow, and this was how Mathilda’s team would come into play.

Silently, her eyes zoned in on one particular name, one of the officers she had just invited.

Jun Suarez.

…

”Go clean that up…” a beautiful dark-skinned woman pointed at a corner, then gave her husband a pointed look.

Jun looked at the kitchen area of the house and, carrying the broom made of dried plants, nodded. ”Okay…”

After cleaning out the small amount of dusts (not much, the house was just a few days old, after all), they took out the old clothes as a wet mop.

These clothes were some of the many clothes that got destroyed as they traveled in this world.

His daughter Mimi had already moistened hers and was wiping the wooden sofa (newly installed!) while the two of them husband and wife focused on the larger surfaces.

Anyway, today was their first day in their new home! They had finally moved on from the dormitory and it felt so, incredibly, happy.

They rented one floor of a duplex unit for a month, with an ambitious goal of paying for the downpayment of its ownership within the next few months.

They had calculated, as long as the two adults worked hard, owning property was not a pipe dream.

Of course, they had to be permanent residents first but the contributions required were actually fair—only 5000, valuing half if paid for in currency—and achievable as long as one worked for the territory long enough.

This, in itself, was amazing.

After all, in Terran, after decades of working, they had yet to pay off their loans and mortgages. But here? Although it would take a while, the possibility of it was there, more concrete, and it wouldn’t take them decades to accomplish either.

The couple had just arrived a few days ago, and they already felt unprecedented peace.

Of course, it would be better if they had a stable source of income. For now, they had been gathering wood and stone to sell, but after seeing the improving lives of the existing residents, they couldn’t help but feel a bit of ambition.

They, too, want to live, not just survive.

So they took a risk and spent nearly all of their money for rent, leaving just enough for basic necessities, believing everything would be okay..

As he joined his wife in arranging their new home, he couldn’t help but recall his life a few weeks ago.

The day started out like any other. He—an overworked public official—went out of the house early in the morning, eating the breakfast his wife prepared for him before dawn, and then went to work, expecting he would get back home all tired after dusk.

He usually had to work overtime, and that day should not have been an exception, but—for some reason—he had a foreboding feeling that made him go home earlier.

At the time, when he saw his wife was safely cooking at home and his daughter was doing homework on the dining table beside her, the sense of relief that came over him was surprising.

For an hour or two of peace after that, he had thought that he was just overworked and was thinking too much.

Except… a disaster really happened and he couldn’t be more thankful he had gone home.

Had he maintained his habit of going home late—

Joana paused, sensing him just staring at her and no longer working. She laughed and pinched his cheek. ”Are you not used to working now?” She said, ”You don’t have to help me.”

Jun blushed a bit, and it made him both touched and guilty because he knew he had indeed been neglecting his family the past few weeks before all hell went loose.

Looking at his wife who was now smiling as she had been, Jun heaved out a relieved sigh.

Although the disaster was horrifying and sad, at least the family was together, right?

In any case, the family happily arranged their new abode, moving the furniture as needed.

Looking at their simple but complete home, he couldn’t help but admire the territory again. They really didn’t have much silver anymore, and yet they could have a house like this. Even if it was just for a month, it was really amazing.

Calculating their current resources, they still had money for food for the next few days. He was not worried. Here, as long as every member of the family worked hard, they definitely wouldn’t go hungry.

They didn’t even attempt to be heroic and try strengthening themselves outside. With their strength, if they didn’t have guards with them (as those employees training had), they’d just be jumping to their deaths.

The fact that so many people still died under these monsters’ jaws after so long was testament to how strong the monsters were. His refugee story wasn’t unique, anyone who had been entering the past few days had similar tragedies.

They had a daughter. Such a risk wasn’t an option, not when there were safer alternatives.

Anyway, they now had hope for a good life, and they ought to celebrate their first meal in their new home!

”Shall we go shopping for ingredients?” His wife asked. ”We don’t have food for lunch and dinner anymore.”

”Yes,” he smiled, happy to accompany his wife, holding hands throughout.

Their daughter, on the other hand, happily followed them with her pigtails bouncing as she skipped about.

She declared today was her ’day off’ from ’working’ (gathering resources) and it was time for her to ’take care of the elderly’.

This amused the couple greatly.

The family happily shopped along the stalls, their baskets filling up with their needs for the next few days.

While their savings were gone, they just thought to live for the moment. They had gone through so much after the disaster, they ought to reward themselves!

However, just as they reached one of their final stalls, they heard a little noise not far from them.