※ The backgrounds and dialogue featured in this article are based on work-in-progress content and are subject to change during development.
Hello, Survivors.
Beyond the walls of NAKWON, the thing you should fear most isn't the infected. It's other people.
The person standing beside you, helping clear out a horde of infected, may become your greatest threat the moment the looting is done.
In this edition of NAKWON Note, we'd like to introduce the people who call this world home—the vendors of NAKWON you'll meet every day when you return from an expedition alive.
They are survivors who endured the collapse of the world in their own ways. The woman at the hardware store tells you only the price.
"30K. …Take it or leave it. Your call."
The repair shop owner examines your gear and gives a short answer.
"Can do."
"Can't do."
The pharmacist always seems irritated, yet when one of his regular customers arrives late, he asks:
"What took you so long?."
Of course, not everyone keeps people at arm's length.
The armor vendor greets returning survivors with a warm smile and says:
"You're back. Glad to see you made it."
For many players, shops are familiar places.
They're where you buy supplies, repair gears, and prepare for the next expedition.
But the people standing behind those counters are survivors of NAKWON just like everyone else.
And behind every face lies a story that has yet to be told.
Ji-won Jeong, the owner of the Yeouido Hardware, carries a key left behind by her father.
Even she doesn't know what it unlocks.
Rumor has it that the pharmacist, Jung-hwan Shin, owns a gun.
The Committee thoroughly searched his shop, but found nothing.
Min-seok Han, who runs the Daeheung Hardware Store, bears a scar across his face.
Whenever a newcomer arrives in NAKWON, he quietly goes to see them for himself.
Yang-ho Gye from the repair shop could easily qualify for a higher citizen rank.
Yet he never does, and never explains why.
Each vendor watches over their own shop and lives their own life.
Yet their stories continue beyond those walls, often in ways they themselves do not realize.
Two people who once attended the same school may pass each other every day without ever recognizing one another.
And over those unseen connections looms the shadow of the NAKWON Management Committee—heavier over some shops than others.
The Committee stands on top of all hierarchy in NAKWON, and people find their own ways to survive within that system.
And somewhere in NAKWON, there are still faces you have yet to meet.
At the heart of NAKWON lies a constant sense of tension.
In the expedition area, you must remain wary not only of the infected, but of other survivors as well.
That's why we wanted the vendors waiting in the safe zone to feel familiar. They're among the first people you see before heading out, and the first faces that greet you when you make it back.
More than anything, we wanted them to feel like people.
Not just NPCs who provide services, but fellow residents of NAKWON, each with their own place in the community, and their own story to tell.
The story of NAKWON continues. We'll return with another story in the next NAKWON Note.
And don't forget to wishlist and follow NAKWON on Steam.
Thank you.