1979, Manager Kim is Inheriting Dictatorship! - Chapter 12



Only Krnovel

Episode 12

In the past, if the group of survivors I met at the mart was somewhat of a haphazard group, the residents of Cheonho Yuwon Apartment were a tight-knit community more than I thought.

Given the nature of Korean apartments, it was only natural for residents to form groups, as there would have been organizations such as resident associations or tenant representatives.

As if to prove this, barricades were installed on the stairs, and the elevators, windows, and hallways were all blocked, making it completely impossible to access anything above the 11th floor.

We had no choice but to go down to the 10th floor and find an empty house to go into.

“… … .”

After we unpacked and sat down, no one opened their mouth.

In particular, Private First Class Oh Chan-il and I, who had checked Private Lee Hyeon-su’s condition, could not easily open our mouths.

Phew, phew.

He opens his eyes wide, bloodshot, and waves his hands as if he might go crazy at any moment.

Just by looking at him, he looked like he was beyond excited and about to have an accident.

“Calm down.”

Unable to stand watching this, Private Oh Chan-il took a cigarette out of his pocket and held it out.

At this, Private Lee Hyeon-su tried to calm his anger by swallowing cigarette smoke with difficulty.

Yeah, it’s family.

It would be strange if you didn’t get excited when your grandmother, who raised you as a child, went missing.

We kept our mouths shut, sat still, and waited for Private Lee Hyeon-su to calm down.

“Are you coming to your senses now?”

“I’m sorry. I guess I got too excited.”

“Okay, enough apologies. Let me just ask you a few questions.”

To be honest, there are more than a few suspicious things about their attitude, words, and baseless logic.

To put this into perspective, I took Private Lee Hyeon-su with me and asked him a few questions.

“Grandma, do you have any problems with your legs?”

“He has a disability and can’t use both his legs at all. To be honest, the wheelchair is a bit difficult.”

“You might have gotten help.”

“Please don’t leave the house unless absolutely necessary. You were just waiting for me to come on vacation… … .”

According to Private Lee Hyeon-su, the grandmother had neither the means nor the will to go to the shelter.

This contradicted the claims of the man who was the village chief, and in the end, the residents were lying.

lie.

Why would you lie?

Corporal Oh Chan-il, who had been quietly listening to the story from the side, whispered with a serious face.

“Is this it?”

“No, let’s not think too hastily.”

It’s too early to assume the worst just because he lied.

However, Private Lee Hyeon-su, a family member, was already on the verge of losing his mind.

“Is my grandmother okay? Yes? Sangbaem! Sangbaem, please say something.”

“Hyunsoo, let’s think about it for a moment. Okay?”

A commotion was about to break out between Lee Hyun-soo, who was so agitated, and Oh Chan-il, who was trying to stop him.

Krrrr!

But at that moment, Coco, who was lying next to me, suddenly got up and turned her gaze toward the door.

Startled, we all grabbed our guns from the wall and aimed them at the door.

“person?”

But what was soon heard was not the cries of the infected, but the regular sound of footsteps.

Four? Five?

A group of unidentified survivors were climbing up to the 10th floor where we were.

“fizzle.”

My companions and I opened the door quietly and listened into the hallway.

“Still, I learned a lot today.”

“You don’t have to like it. There are so many mouths that can eat it. Even if you take it, it’ll probably only last a day or two.”

“Oh my god, f*ck. It looks like all the convenience stores around here got robbed. What are we going to do starting tomorrow?”

“I don’t know if this is right. Some people are suffering like crazy while others are just playing around at home… … .”

They were sitting together on the stairs between the 9th and 10th floors, smoking cigarettes and chatting.

From what I’ve heard in the conversation, it seems like the 11th floor residents came out to look for supplies.

Thinking that this was a good opportunity, I sent a short signal to Lee Hyun-soo and Oh Chan-il.

We creep down the hallway and quietly approach the crowded staircase.

The pungent smell of cigarette smoke, giggling. They were talking as if they didn’t even know we were there.

“Did you see that son of a bitch yesterday, Chief? If you eat alone again this time, I’ll really… … Huh, huh?”

Crunch!

A man who had been smoking a cigarette for a long time ends up making eye contact with the muzzle of a gun aimed at him.

“What, what is it!”

“A soldier? You’re a soldier.”

Suddenly, the colleagues who were with him also froze like frogs that met a snake.

I took out the flash and shone it on their faces one by one, regardless.

“Do you know this face?”

“Yes. They are all residents here.”

“Why are you all doing this?”

When people in military uniforms suddenly appeared, the residents could not hide their agitation.

At that moment, Private Lee Hyeon-su approached with eyes as cold as the muzzle of a gun.

“Sir, do you remember me?”

“Hyunsoo? Aren’t you the grandma over there?”

“That’s right! The guy who went to the military!”

When someone they knew appeared, their expressions relaxed as if nothing had happened and they tried to greet each other happily.

“Where is my grandmother?”

But when asked where his grandmother was, his expression hardened as if he were lying.

The sight of them furtively looking at each other, embarrassed, and desperately keeping their mouths shut.

This makes it certain.

That the mayor and the residents lied.

Private Lee Hyeon-su reacted immediately.

“Can’t you speak? Where is it?”

“A, shelter… … .”

“Fuck! Stop talking nonsense and speak properly!”

Beyond conversation and persuasion, now it’s threats.

Hyunsoo Lee, whose eyes were bloodshot red, thrust the gun towards him as if he was about to pull the trigger.

The man with the gun stuck in his chest was sweating profusely and didn’t know what to do.

But not everyone was scared when guns were pointed at them.

“What? So you’re going to shoot me? If you want to get all of us together, then shoot me!”

This is the Republic of Korea, a country in a state of armistice where most adult males have served in the military.

A man who knew the danger of gunfire immediately stepped forward and began raising his voice.

“This green-eyed little brat can do anything in front of adults. Are you using this as a flash grenade?”

Others began to follow suit, convinced that they would never be able to fire a gun.

The feelings of mutual hatred spread in an instant and soon escalated into a physical fight.

“By the way, isn’t this desertion?”

“Wow, this kid is going to be a big deal.”

“Fuck! Aren’t you going to put the gun down?”

When Lee Hyun-soo showed no response, the men gained confidence and tried to grab the gun.

At that moment, I, who had been quietly watching the situation from behind, lifted the buttstock.

Kwajik!

“Ugh!”

Blood splatters with a bloody sound.

Everyone who had been fighting for a long time was shocked by the sudden blow and froze like stone.

Knock, knock.

Blood drips from the buttocks.

The man who was hit in the face fell to the ground clutching his broken nose and front teeth.

“Huh, huh?”

But I didn’t stop there, I mechanically raised the gun and cocked the buttstock again.

Kwajik!

This time, the face of the young man who was holding Private Lee Hyeon-su by the collar is crushed.

Violence without hesitation.

Eyes that feel cool.

When they saw their colleagues with their faces crushed, they were startled and began to back away.

Sreung!

I pulled out my military sword as if to show off to those guys and walked forward with heavy steps.

The distance is only 1m.

A distance that seems breathtaking.

If you stretch out your arm like this, it will stab your abdomen, and if you bend it to the side, blood will spurt out like a fountain.

This short distance of just 1 meter is said to be the difference between life and death.

“Mr. Hyunsoo.”

“……yes.”

“If you touch a gun from now on, this is what will happen.”

“sorry.”

The world will soon become a place where ethics, common sense, and even the most basic human rights will fade away.

If there was a set line, whoever crossed it first could have taken the initiative.

“Do you still have something to say?”

The men, with their faces turned pale, lowered their heads one by one, as if they had lost their will to fight.

It didn’t take long for me to get them to tell me the truth.

* * *

Humans are governed by circumstances.

Especially in extreme environments where life is at stake, the control of the situation changes absolutely.

How much hunger and how much sense of crisis will it take for humans to shed their fear of the iron?

What is clear is that for the residents of this apartment, it only took two weeks.

‘Now is the time to stick together!’

Early in the outbreak, the mayor of the apartment complex, who quickly gathered the residents, came up with an idea.

The idea is to gather all the supplies that each person has in their own home and distribute them to the apartment complex.

The residents, who thought it was a good idea, agreed and voluntarily collected supplies.

But it was an illusion to think that just because it was collected fairly, it would be distributed fairly.

As supplies began to run low, the mayor and residents looked for someone to exclude first.

“So you neglected my grandmother?”

My legs are so bad that I can’t move, and I don’t have a family.

Private Lee Hyeon-su’s grandmother was the perfect member to be thrown away under the excuse of being ‘rational’.

The townspeople all agreed to ignore the grandmother’s cries of sorrow.

“Hyunsoo! I really didn’t know! That bastard, the village chief, told me to do it all… … Kkaaaak!”

Private Lee Hyeon-su, who could no longer bear it any longer, ended up kicking the man in the face who was telling the truth.

And then, with tears streaming down his face, he struck the bastard’s head with the buttstock like a madman.

“Are you people!? Grandma has been so nice to me all this time, and you fucking idiot! You thought it was a waste to give me just one grain of rice! Die! Die, you fucking dog!”

If this continues, I’m really going to die.

It was the first time he had seen his successor like this, and Private Oh Chan-il was at a loss as to what to do.

I had no choice but to step forward and stop Private Lee Hyeon-su, who was beating the man as if he was going to kill him.

“Mr. Hyunsoo, please stop.”

“This kid should be killed!”

“Are you going to waste your time like this?”

“but……!”

“Let’s think about it calmly. There’s still time. He might be alive.”

The village chief said that distribution was cut off a week ago, so the timeline is shorter than expected.

Considering that the water supply had not been cut off yet, there was a high probability that he was holding out by drinking water.

“Take me and follow me.”

Private Lee Hyeon-su, who only then came to his senses, hurriedly wiped away his tears and dragged the hostage away.

Now that it had come to this, I was thinking of opening the barricades even if it meant cutting off these guys’ balls.

Growl…!

But at that moment, Coco, who had been sitting quietly in the corner, bared her teeth and growled.

This is already the third time.

The residents who discovered the suspicious air current came flocking in without us even having to go looking for it.

“Oh my, what is going on!”

“Isn’t that Mr. Jang? Surely he’s not dead?”

“That’s blood! Blood!”

Residents, each holding something in their hand, were making a fuss as they watched the fallen people.

And as soon as he saw that the culprit was Private Lee Hyeon-su, he started to whisper, saying that he knew this would happen, and he insisted on bringing up his absent parents.

My companions and I looked at the sight with disgust and remained silent.

“Chief! Here you go!”

A little later, the village chief, who arrived late, walked forward, killing the excited residents.

As soon as he found them lying bleeding, he started foaming at the mouth and lashed out.

“What the heck! Did you guys make this?”

“Can’t you tell just by looking?”

“You crazy kids! You’re trying to kill people now? Let’s do this together!”

As you gain more confidence, you become more assertive, and when you become more confident, it becomes easier to raise your voice.

When the village chief took the lead in getting angry, the residents followed suit and started hurling all kinds of curses.

But even in the midst of all this, some of them were quietly whispering with greedy eyes.

‘gun.’

I roughly guessed his intentions through the shape of his mouth and looked around with cold eyes.

A group of excited residents and glaring men with bayonets pointed out in front of them.

The distance of about 20 meters was gradually shrinking due to the increasing number of people.

At that moment of imminent danger, when it seemed like we might collide at any moment, I whistled softly.

“Ask.”

At that moment, Coco, the gentle hunting dog, turned into an evil spirit and rushed at me.

Boom!