1979, Manager Kim is Inheriting Dictatorship! - Chapter 37



Only Krnovel

Episode 37

I don’t know who did it, but the trailer truck is really well-modified.

Basically, all doors have been reinforced and the load capacity has been greatly increased to prevent them from being easily pushed.

And the power it gave off was no joke, as if it had been completely reworked, including the engine and tires.

It’s like seeing a bull.

The trailer truck forcefully pushed aside not only the infected people blocking its path, but also the vehicles on the road.

But no matter how monstrous an object this is, it ultimately has its limits.

The trailer truck, which had been running for a while, soon turned off all the lights that had been mounted on top.

Booooooo… … .

And then, after reducing the engine noise along with the speed, I entered an underpass that I didn’t even know was there.

Before we knew it, Mt. Gwanak had come into view, and the truck was turning onto a remote road.

The group of infected people that had been persistently following us had gradually moved away and were no longer visible.

Rattling, rattling!

The truck began to climb with difficulty on a dirt road instead of a paved road.

At the end of it, a shabby industrial building hidden among the trees was waiting for us.

I wondered where on earth this big trailer truck came from, and it turned out it had a separate hiding place.

The area around the factory seemed quite safe, with dense trees and a sturdy iron fence.

Only then did we feel relieved and one by one we got out of the trailer truck parked in the empty lot.

“Brother! I’ll carry you!”

“Not to that extent.”

“It’s noisy and it picks up quickly!”

I was just trying to walk on my own two feet, but Private Oh Chan-il, who was making a fuss, insisted on carrying me.

Even the always cynical Kim Jin-kyung seemed to be quite shocked by the sight of her jumping off the rooftop.

I had to get out of the car, held by two men like a criminal being suddenly taken away.

“You all got sworn at for coming here! Are you hurt anywhere?”

At that moment, an old man wearing sunglasses came down from the truck driver’s seat looking cool.

Likewise, one of the reconnaissance team members who got out of the truck bowed his head toward the old man.

“Thank you very much, sir.”

“What are you thankful for? It’s the same whether we leave tomorrow or today. It’s just a relief that everyone is alive.”

It seemed like he was the owner of this trailer truck, and his driving skills were just as generous as his.

I told the two of them to wait a moment, then walked toward the old man and bowed my head.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I survived.”

“Oh! That crazy guy!”

“yes?”

“That crazy guy who jumped off the roof! I’ve never seen anyone like you in my life.”

The old man laughed heartily and kept patting my back, as if he was so happy about something.

I don’t know if it’s a compliment or an insult, but judging from the fact that he’s smiling, it doesn’t seem to be an insult.

“Private Kim?”

Corporal Park, who had just gotten off the truck, recognized the reconnaissance team members and ran over to them in a panic.

The soldier wearing the rank of corporal warmly hugged Sergeant Park.

“Sergeant Park!”

“Hey you little punk! If you’re alive, you should at least call me to let me know!”

Of the reconnaissance team members who were thought to be dead, three returned alive and well.

Sergeant Park and the members of both sides, who had been worried for a long time, were all very happy to be reunited.

“I didn’t think you would come looking for me.”

“Of course you should have come! Do you know how worried the platoon kids were? This kid is really… …!”

“Ah! First, let’s say hello. This is Mr. Park Gap-su. He lives nearby and I received a lot of help from him.”

“What, did I help you in any way? I just gave you a lift and brought you here. Heh heh.”

It was said that some of the reconnaissance team members who encountered the abnormal entity at the time and were attacked by the infected survived and escaped towards Gwanaksan Mountain.

However, he was in a great crisis because he could not shake off the infected people who followed him, and the person who helped him at that time was this old man named Park Gap-su.

“How did we find it?”

“I was originally planning to return to campus early in the morning. But then I heard gunshots and thought it was my unit, so I ran over.”

If they had been even just a little late, all of us, including ourselves, would have smelled the incense.

I felt like my legs were losing strength in a situation that I could only think was a stroke of luck.

“Grandpa~.”

At that moment, a child who looked like he had just started kindergarten ran out from inside the factory.

“Oh my baby!”

Then, old man Park hugged the child and kissed his chubby cheeks repeatedly.

After that, people who appeared to be relatives came out and bowed their heads awkwardly.

Even in Gwacheon, where it was thought there would be no survivors, some people remained and held on tenaciously.

“For now, go inside and rest. Don’t worry, I’ll take you home.”

“Thank you, sir.”

There is a lot I want to say and I also need to come up with a plan for what to do going forward.

But now I was so tired that I couldn’t tell if this was a dream or reality.

We washed and roughly wiped our faces and were guided into the room.

I don’t remember much after that, so I guess I really slept like a mouse.

Another day passed like that.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, the sun was at its zenith.

I looked around, wiping away the drool that had dripped down my face. I was alone in the messy room.

Of course, Coco was still in my arms, wiggling her now much-healed front paws.

“I told you not to lick it.”

Squeak.

I tried to get up from my seat and handed him his favorite treat instead of his paw.

“Ugh.”

At that moment, I felt a cracking sound in my joints and back muscles and an excruciating pain came over me.

In the old days, no matter how high you jumped from, you would be fine, but I guess my body is getting old.

Eventually, I gave up on getting up and just lay quietly next to Coco, groaning as she chewed her snack.

“Are you awake?”

At that moment, the door opened and Kim Jin-kyung appeared with her hair wet.

She brought the small prize inside and placed it quietly in front of Coco and me.

On the table, steaming hot chicken soup and chicken porridge were placed appetizingly.

“What is this?”

“This is what Mr. Park Gap-su caught today. We ate it all, so enjoy.”

There were so many people that only half a serving was provided, but it was still something.

I sat down without even realizing that my back was hurting from the smell of chicken stew that I hadn’t smelled in a long time.

“Coco is this.”

Of course, our hard-working Coco was also provided with half a raw, unboiled chicken.

Coco and I were practically nose-deep in our plates, inhaling the chicken and chicken porridge like crazy.

Chewy chicken and warm porridge.

It felt like my body and soul, which had been empty all night, were being filled once again.

As I was quickly finishing off half a chicken, the door opened again.

“Did you get some rest?”

“Hello! Good morning.”

Sergeant Park, who had become much more polite than yesterday, came in with his head bowed.

After that, Private Kim, the leader of the reconnaissance team, smiled awkwardly and greeted me.

I quickly finished what I was eating and sat down facing the two people.

“I contacted the unit early this morning. They said they were sending support, so I guess they’re trying to secure the logistics center right now.”

“Is it possible?”

“Even though our campus looks understaffed, it’s not a major one. I think they’re going to use all their might to recapture it.”

No matter how many infected people there are, the military is an armed group with firearms.

If you’re worried about small-scale skirmishes that could draw aggro, then that’s fine, but if you’re planning on securing the Gwacheon area, it’s better to go big.

“Shall we join too?”

“No, I’m coming back.”

“That’s fortunate.”

It seemed like his back was about to break, so he would have to take a break and get treatment for the time being.

Still, I expressed my gratitude to Captain Kang for his consideration for us and greeted Private Kim.

“I couldn’t say hello to you yesterday because I was so out of sorts. My name is Jang Dae-su.”

“Haha, nice to meet you. Just call me Corporal Kim.”

Unlike the blunt Sergeant Park, he smiled cheerfully and grabbed my hand.

After a quick introduction, we talked about the entity we had encountered yesterday.

“Did the reconnaissance team encounter him too?”

“Yes, we first found it inside the distribution center. We killed it quickly, but it had already gathered the infected around it.”

As expected, the reason the reconnaissance team was annihilated was because of that entity that was gathering other infected.

But Private Kim said with a serious face, as if there was a bigger problem than that.

“I heard from Private Oh Chan-il. He clearly said that he killed him that night before he could make a sound.”

“Yes, I hit him in the head with a bolt.”

Clearly, even as he was dying with his brain destroyed, the bastard screamed and called out to the infected.

This meant that this wasn’t something that could be solved simply by capturing it first and then killing it.

“I reported everything to the company commander. I think the reason you’re trying to secure the Gwacheon area is because of that entity.”

“That would be wise.”

It might be better to just get rid of them all rather than let him draw aggro.

At least it’s a lot better than the fight in front of the campus.

While I was lost in thought for a while, Sergeant Park, who had decided on something, called me.

“excuse me.”

“yes?”

“I’m really sorry about last time. Honestly, if it weren’t for the help of Mr. Daesu and his group, I wouldn’t have been able to come this far. Thank you so much for saving me and my squad!”

The eyes that had initially shown distrust and wariness toward me had long since disappeared without a trace.

What filled that void was gratitude for saving himself and his comrades, and respect as a soldier.

“I was very rude to both of you. I will definitely apologize to Private Oh Chan-il later.”

Sergeant Park also bowed his head and apologized to Kim Jin-kyung and Teacher Coco, who were right next to him.

She looked a little surprised, not expecting him to apologize first like this.

“… … Okay.”

Hehe!

Of course, the group, who had no lingering feelings, accepted the apology cleanly and responded with a light laugh.

Maybe it was because he couldn’t control his youthful energy and confidence, but that original didn’t seem like a bad person.

This time, I decided to pat Sergeant Park on the shoulder and let go of all past grudges.

* * *

In fact, we talked as if everything was over, but it still took some time to return to campus.

Since follow-up troops were coming, we, as the advance party, had to hold our ground.

Of course, since the reconnaissance mission was being handled exclusively by Sergeant Park and his squad members, my party and I were able to relax leisurely.

We enjoyed a long-awaited break and had some maintenance time that we hadn’t been able to do for a while.

“Did you run out of ammo?”

“huh.”

The shotgun that had been my clone for so long had finally run out of ammunition.

If we wanted to get this right away, there would be no way the unit would have 12 gauge ammunition, and if we wanted to find a gun shop, we would have to search all over Seoul.

I sighed softly as I caressed the Benelli shotgun that I had worked so hard to build.

“Huh? There’s more here?”

But at that moment, Private Oh Chan-il, who was rummaging through my gun case, discovered something.

It was none other than a birdshot with a white plastic body.

“It’s used to catch small birds like birds. It has small iron balls in it.”

“Is this unusable?”

“No, it has enough power. However, the range is too short for the infected.”

Still, it’s one of the 12 gauge ammunition types, and if you shoot it at a person, it’ll leave a lot of holes in it.

However, it is a bit disappointing that it is used against infected people who stubbornly ignore things like losing limbs.

If you want to be effective, do you have to get within range and hit the head?

Considering that I usually carry it around as my main weapon, it was a bit of a disappointing limitation.

“Oh, you were a hunter?”

At that moment, Mr. Park, who was clearing snow nearby, began to show interest in the gun.

And naturally he sat down next to me and examined the shotgun I was holding.

“It’s a new model. It must have been expensive.”

“I see you have a license, sir.”

“I pulled the trigger a lot when I was little.”

Old Man Park smiled mischievously and wiggled his fingers as if he were shooting a gun.

But that was only for a moment, as he soon came back with a sharp face to examine the gun case and ammunition.

“All that remains is to catch the birds.”

“It’s not easy to get 12 gauge.”

“Can I help you?”

“Huh? Do you have any ammunition?”

“No, not that.”

Old Man Park picked up a birdshot rolling on the floor and shook the marble inside.

“It’s time for renovation.”

“……yes?”

Come to think of it, he never answered the question of whether he had a hunting license.

Old Man Park smiled as if to tell us to trust him and guided us to the hidden workshop.

“When the world was in good shape, I wondered what use an old man like me would be. But now, there’s no technician like this Park Gap-su. Isn’t that right?”

A suspiciously well-modified truck, a reclusive old man who seems to know a strange amount about guns.

Even though we don’t have a hunting license, they take us to a secluded place and offer to modify our ammunition.

But why… … .

Do you trust me?

“Sir, do you smoke?”

“Oh, good.”

I followed him politely, gave him my most expensive cigarettes, and even lit them for him.