The common language used by everyone who survived the Great Disaster was English.
It had already been the global lingua franca, taught in most—if not all—countries. But now, it was the only language that mattered.
No matter where you came from or what your name was, people communicated in English.
If you happened to meet someone from your home country, you could switch to your native language—but English came first.
Technically, all languages still existed. But only one was used as the primary means of communication.
Too many races had been forced together. The human population wasn't large enough to remain divided.
So the survivors—young and old, Asian, American, African—coexisted in one massive, borderless country.
And English became the official tongue of the new world.
A language now used by the six people crammed into one van.
"How old is Brother Yi?" Shae Harris asked curiously from the backseat.
She leaned back on her bag which serves as a cushion
"Older than you, that's for sure," Yi Zheng replied.
"Then why won't you say exactly? Unless you're underage..." She leaned closer. "Driving as a minor is a crime, you know."
"I'm twenty-five." Yi Zheng glared at her.
"Then I should call you Old Man Yi," Shae said with a smirk.
"Who's an old man? I'm still young, okay?" Yi Zheng snapped back.
"Sure~" she hummed with obvious amusement.
For some reason, that made him feel even worse. This was the first time he'd ever been called "old" because he was twenty-five
"Well, I'm Shae Harris. But I don't know what that name means," she said casually.
"And I'm eighteen years old."
"I grew up in America before the disasters hit so I feel like I'm an American"
"But my parents were from the U.K"
Yi Zheng narrowed his eyes. "That's a special name you've got."
The rest of the van tensed up a little. Everyone knew the Harris family. You couldn't not know them.
Their influence in the medical world was deep and far-reaching.
Yi Zheng studied her more closely. She didn't act like a noble. No arrogance. No airs.
She wasn't even familiar from any news reports.
"What? Why are you all staring at me?" Shae tilted her head. "Did you finally decide to hunt zombies with me?"
She lit up at her own suggestion.
"No," the other four said in unison.
Yi Zheng looked at her like she was insane.
There's no way this psychopath could be a noble, they all thought.
...But she was.
Especially one of the major pillars of nobility
....she had lived most of her life in a private hospital built just for her—a place that was more of a burial ground than a clinic.
And most importantly, the Harris family had already declared their second daughter dead from a rare disease.
...Yet here she was, very much alive, sitting in the van.
Unless the genre changed again, Ming Jun thought.
"Hey, you're next," Shae said, elbowing the plump boy beside her.
"My name is Ming Jun. Ming Jun means clever," he said. "I'm eighteen."
"And I'm Korean"
Another one. The group exchanged wary glances.
That name sounded familiar too.
But he looked normal enough. A bit pudgy. Not the refined look of a noble.
Even Shae, who once tried to extort a game console from the Ming family, didn't recognize him.
Still... maybe?
"I'm an otaku," Ming Jun added proudly.
And just like that, everyone's thoughts collapsed.
There was no way this guy was a noble.
Not because being an otaku was shameful, but because no noble would ever brag about it.
....they were wrong
...He was from the Ming family.
An illegitimate child, disowned the first day of the apocalypse.
So technically... they weren't wrong.
"What about you, sister?" Shae turned to the girl behind her, breaking the silence.
"Ah... I'm... I'm Mori Aoi. Mori means forest, and Aoi means to rely upon."
"I'm Japanese. And I'm eighteen." She bowed her head slightly, voice trembling.
Her hands were restless as she gripped the base of her shirt
Too shy to look into anyone's eye
Meanwhile everyone was speechless again.
Another high-profile name.
Yi Zheng started to feel something was off. Very off.
Why were all these random kids in his van named after noble families?
Was this some kind of dark secret?
…Yes. Yes it was.
But Yi Zheng didn't want to dwell too much on the truth - he felt knowing was unnecessary
"I—I have this disease called ocular albinism," Mori Aoi suddenly blurted. "It makes my eyes look bloodshot."
She took a deep breath. She didn't want them to mistake her for a zombie. Better to say it now than be distrusted later.
"Cool, so you always look like you're about to go berserk!" Shae said, trying to lift the girl's bangs.
Mori flinched and pulled back.
"Hey, I wanna see your berserk eyes!" Shae whined.
"You're really Japanese! Do you watch anime? What's your favorite one? Hey—can you speak Japanese for me?" Ming Jun jumped in, eyes sparkling.
He fired off questions at Mori Aoi like a machine gun.
Both of them were now kneeling on their seats, leaning toward the flustered girl.
"I wanna see" Shae Harris whined
"I wanna hear you speak Japanese" Ming Jun said
Both had eyes practically on fire while staring at her
Unable to handle the pressure, she latched onto the arm of the person beside her.
Wei Zhi stared at her helplessly.
Why me again?
He was also uncomfortable with their passionate approach
"Both of you—sit down," Yi Zheng growled.
They made one last pouty attempt, then reluctantly obeyed.
Mori Aoi slowly removed herself from Wei Zhi's arm, red-faced, and scooted back to her seat.
"My name is Wei Zhi," the boy said next. "Wei means fearless. Zhi means will."
"I'm eighteen. I'm Chinese."
"Oh, so you're related to the old man!" Shae gasped.
"I'm not old. And we're not related," Yi Zheng barked.
Shae sighed dramatically. "Wow, abandoning your own countryman. Shameful."
Yi Zheng rolled his eyes and ignored her.
At least this one didn't share a noble name.
Now it was Noi Karn's turn.
"My name is Noi Karn. 'Noi' means young. 'Karn' means beloved. I'm Thai. And I'm fifteen."
Everyone: here we go again.
Yi Zheng felt that nagging feeling grow stronger.
These names... they weren't coincidences.
They were exact matches for the names of major families.
Even the meanings of the names lined up.
.... that's because they are from those noble families
Was it possible?
...Yes.
Had he somehow picked up all the hidden children of the noble houses.
....Yes
Gah..why am I still thinking about it
Yi Zheng chose to completely forget the matter
It's wasn't any of his business
"Wait—are you that kid sent to our school from the Noi family orphanage?" Wei Zhi asked, eyes wide.
"Yes," Noi Karn replied evenly.
"Aren't you...?" Wei Zhi trailed off.
"Yes. I'm blind," the boy said calmly.
He was already prepared to step out of the van if they felt he was a burden
He didn't know if he could survive alone and he didn't care much
But he would try to take one last stab at the Noi family before he died
The van was silent as he expected it to be
Yi Zheng glanced over. Now that he looked closer, he noticed the boy's unfocused, silver eyes.
Completely blind.
"Whoa. I couldn't tell."
"You're really cool! Hey, I heard blind people have enhanced senses. Can you echolocate or something?" Shae asked, practically bouncing.
"I'm not a bat," Noi Karn replied dryly.
"But you really don't look blind. Do you have some superhuman sixth sense?" Ming Jun asked, now curious.
"Hey do you have to tie a blindfold over your eyes" he said excitedly
Min Jun recalled how easily Noi karn had walked without stumbling or bumping into anything.
"One of my favorite game characters was a blind swordsman," Shae said, mimicking a dramatic sword slash.
"I do not have a sixth sense," Noi Karn sighed.
"Maybe he's just had a long time to adapt," Wei Zhi said, impressed.
"Yeah. You're amazing," Mori Aoi added shyly.
"If you can handle yourself, then I've got no complaints," Yi Zheng said.
He was just the driver. Whether they lived or died wasn't really his problem.
Noi Karn sat in silence, stunned.
They weren't pitying him. They weren't avoiding him.
They were joking about it. Casually. Kindly.
For the first time in his life, someone called his blindness "amazing."
It was... insane.
And yet, oddly comforting.
"Together, we make the start of a bad joke," Shae Harris laughed.
"An American, Korean, Chinese, Thai... and an old man walk into a bar."
"I'm not an old man!" Yi Zheng snapped.
"Relax, it completes the set."
"Now we have both the child and the elder."
"I'm not a child," Noi Karn muttered, frowning.
"Our youngest is so cute," Shae said, reaching forward to pinch his cheek.
Noi Karn dodged and swatted her hand away.
"Our youngest is shy~" she hummed.
"From now on, we shall only refer to him as our youngest," she declared.
Noi Karn rolled his eyes.
The others chuckled.
Noi Karn turned back to look out the window, ignoring them.
But a quiet, warm feeling bloomed in his chest.
It was faint... but it was there.