Surviving World's End

the beginning

Mark's POV

Three days after my conversation with Grandpa, he passed away peacefully.

Well… judging from the lecherous expression frozen on his face, I could tell he probably died while having some dirty dream. Honestly, that old man truly stayed committed to his desires until the very end.

The funeral itself was simple. I invited most of the villagers to attend and say a few words about him. But that was a Big mistake.

Turns out, not a single one of them had anything good to say about the old geezer. Even worse, during the funeral itself, grown adults were shamelessly asking a thirteen-year-old kid—me—to repay the money my grandparents had borrowed from them.

At first, I didn't think much of it. I mean, how much money could two poor old villagers possibly borrow? So I confidently told everyone to give me some time and promised I would repay every single debt. The next day, all the lenders came to my house carrying IOUs.

And when I saw the amounts written on them

I swear, I nearly died of a heart attack on the spot after mentally calculating the total.

At first, I thought I was seeing things wrong, so I carefully checked the IOUs again. Then I checked them a third time. Nope. I wasn't hallucinating. The amount was genuinely enormous. Of course, not all the IOUs were real.

Some black-hearted bastards even added extra zeroes after hearing about Grandpa's death. How did I know? Because one particular IOU claimed my grandparents owed 100,000 dollars, but the "1000" was written in black ink while the extra "00" was written in blue ink.

I mean, if you're going to forge a debt, at least put some effort into it.I may have been thirteen, but I wasn't brain-dead. Still, even after removing the fake ones, there were plenty of genuine IOUs left.

And that old geezer truly deserved a special place in hell.

If you're going to borrow money, then leave your grandson out of it!

Why was there a clause in almost every IOU stating that after his death, I would inherit the debt? And if I failed to repay it, the lenders would supposedly have the right to harvest my organs once I became old enough.

What kind of demonic contract was that?

More importantly ,How the hell did he even get my thumbprint onto those papers? It honestly felt like the old man was still trying to harvest my organs even after death.

Thankfully, I didn't panic too much. After searching through the house, I realized my grandparents weren't actually poor.They owned quite a bit of land in the village and even had a valuable piece of property in the city.

After calculating everything, I started fantasizing about my future. If I sold all their properties, I could repay the debts and still live comfortably afterward.In fact, I'd probably live better than I ever did while staying with those two old monsters.

Unfortunately…. While searching the house, I also uncovered one of Grandpa's darkest secrets.

You see, our village had an old legend about an infamous underwear thief. Ever since I was little, I'd heard countless aunties and older sisters cursing that shameless criminal.So imagine my shock when, while cleaning Grandpa's room after his death, I discovered ten pairs of women's underwear hidden beneath his bed and inside the chair cushions.

At first, I thought they belonged to Grandma. And after her death, Grandpa had simply become lonely and was using them to… commit unspeakable acts. Ahem. I mean, he was probably reminiscing about their old memories together.

But then I found two entire trunks filled with underwear. Traditional ones,Bold ones, Fancy ones, Different colors ,Different cup sizes. At that moment, realization struck me like lightning. The legendary underwear thief…

…was my own grandfather.

Back then, as an innocent child unfamiliar with the ways of the world, I felt deeply ashamed. But now that I'm older, I can honestly admit the old man was… strangely dedicated to his craft.

He may not have been a good person, but his legendary accomplishments will forever remain in village history. In fact, as a fellow single man, I can't help but feel a tiny bit inspired by his determination.I might even carry on his mantle someday—

Cough. Cough. Sorry, that came out wrong. I would never commit such shameless acts.Absolutely never.

Anyway, once I realized what kind of "treasure" I had discovered, I immediately understood one thing: If the women of the village ever found out the contents inside the trunks , I would lose the roof over my head.

So I made a decision that still fills my heart with regret even today.I burned everything behind the house. Sorry ,now it's my house. But Do I regret hiding Grandpa's crimes?

No.

What truly haunts me is realizing that if I had buried those trunks instead, then today I could've added them to my current collect— Cough. Cough. Back to the topic.

At that point, I was a thirteen-year-old kid drowning in debts I never borrowed.If I failed to repay them, those bastard villagers might genuinely try to collect my organs someday.

Left with no other options, I went to seek help from the village chief.Since I was still underage, I couldn't legally sell the properties myself. I needed an adult to handle the process. So I told the village chief everything. The debts.The IOUs. The properties . All of it.

Even now, I wish I could go back in time and beat my younger self unconscious before he ever stepped into that man's house.Because if I had known what would happen afterward.I would have rather sold my organs voluntarily.

That day was the true beginning .The moment my life completely spiraled out of control.And the start of the darkest period of my life.

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