1979, Manager Kim is Inheriting Dictatorship! - Chapter 73



Only Krnovel

Episode 73

The old gunsmith graciously provided a room for the whole group to rest in.

We unpacked without a word, had a quick meal, and took a rest.

The floor was warm and the blanket was cozy.

Everyone must have been very tired because they fell asleep one by one as soon as they laid their heads on the floor.

In the dark room, only the sound of snoring and someone’s sleep could be heard.

Crunch.

I, who had been staying until the end, came out of the room to smoke a cigarette.

An old gunsmith was sitting at the counter of a store with soft lighting.

“Would you like a drink?”

The old gunsmith was pouring whiskey while enjoying the night view that was still going on.

It was a top-quality whiskey that was on a whole other level than the cheap whiskey we had.

“thank you.”

I don’t usually drink much, so I took a sip of the glass the old gunsmith offered me and sat down.

After taking a sip of the bitter liquor and a puff of a cigarette, I finally felt the tension disappear.

“I heard you were going to Hyehwa-dong.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Keep going, then it’s right in front of your nose.”

From here, it only takes 1 to 2 hours to walk to your destination, Jongno Hyehwa-dong.

But the old gunsmith didn’t ask why he had to go all the way to Hyehwa-dong.

They just quietly pour a glass of wine to celebrate the not-so-distant future.

Outside the curtains that had been briefly pushed aside, the night view of a city without its owner was sparkling.

“From a distance, it looks like nothing happened. Except for the absence of people and cars.”

“Because the power is still coming in.”

“That won’t be long now. When darkness falls on the city, that’s when it’ll be real.”

Now, it is difficult to even rescue citizens, let alone normalize the city.

But the government seemed desperate to keep a lid on the electricity coming into the city.

The moment the power goes out, not only household electricity but also tap water, which is the source of drinking water, is cut off.

But if we reach that limit as the old man said, darkness will fall upon the city.

The darkness may not simply herald the end of light, but the loss of humanity.

From now on, it’s real.

If you have been running away from infection, now you must run away from the purpose of competition.

I had to bite my bitter tongue as I watched the night view that seemed as if it would go out at any moment.

“You said you were leaving at dawn tomorrow?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then I guess I should take care of it now.”

The old gunsmith, half-drunk, staggered to his feet and headed toward the store’s display case.

And then he took out the box containing the promised Winchester SX3 and several hundred rounds of ammunition.

“Still, it’s fortunate that there are so many of them. It would have been difficult to take them all.”

“The students will have a hard time.”

Still, thanks to the help of four students, moving the ammunition box was no problem.

I tried to thank the old gunsmith while checking the guns and ammunition one by one.

“Oh, and.”

But at that moment, as if this was not the end, the old man took out something more from the side.

“That crossbow you use, it’s better than I thought. I was going to exchange it for a completely different one, but I just changed the frame.”

The crossbow I previously owned is an item that is banned from import into Korea.

The old gunsmith, who noticed this, replaced the frame instead of the item.

“Is that okay?”

“Why, are you afraid I’ll send you on another errand? Hehe, the parts I brought are pretty useful, so just take a look. If you need anything else, I can give you one or two.”

The party has air guns and K-2 rifles, so there is no need for a shotgun.

But since I’m not the type to turn down something like this, I quickly walked over to the display case.

Inside the metal display cases were dozens of actual hunting guns.

“… … Were you prepared for war?”

“It just happened because I collected them one by one. Well, the world has become like this, so I guess I’ll have to use them someday.”

That’s not wrong.

In a world where cigarettes and alcohol are sold at high prices, how much more so must real bullets and guns be?

Maybe the richest man in this neighborhood was the old gunsmith here.

I took a sip of whiskey and looked at the old man’s gun collection, just to take a look.

‘hmm?’

As I was looking around like that for a while, something out of the blue suddenly caught my eye.

It was none other than a jungle map painted in military camouflage colors.

It was unusually curved at the front and was large for a Gurkha.

“Oh, that? It was custom-made in the US, but the owner never came to pick it up.”

He usually uses a military bayonet as his melee weapon, and attaches a bayonet to his firearm when necessary.

But what I needed most when I encountered the mutant was strong cutting power.

After all, greatswords and daggers are specialized items for stabbing enemies.

“Is it carbon steel?”

“Of course! Why, are you interested?”

“I just needed it.”

“Take it.”

Since the store is full of hunting equipment, I don’t even care about common jungle stuff like this.

The old gunsmith coolly handed me the jungle sword, and I openly asked for the scabbard.

Phew!

When you swing the jungle sword once, you can feel its strong power along with a comfortable grip.

I felt that it was a luxury item at first glance, so I put the jungle sword in its sheath and took good care of it.

Hehe!

Coco wagged her tail and spun around in circles, curious about her newly armed master.

I stroked that guy and looked at the city night view swaying in the distance.

* * *

When morning came, the group that had gone to bed early woke up and prepared to leave.

Fortunately, Jin-kyung Kim, who had suffered a mild concussion, got up from her seat as if nothing had happened.

It was only half a day, but it seemed like resting in a warm bed helped.

After we finished preparing to leave, we said our final goodbyes to the old gunsmith.

“Are you sure it’s okay?”

“It would be better to go out than to stay cooped up in this room. You seem to be more of an expert at raising hunting dogs than I am.”

After much thought, the old gunsmith decided to leave his hunting dog, the shepherd Volvo, in our care.

I guess he thought it would be better to follow us rather than using his hideout as a base.

Hehe!

Of course, it was nice to see Coco and Volvo become friends overnight.

Coco and Volvo wagged their tails like crazy and ran around in circles at the words that they could go together.

“I am grateful to you in many ways.”

“I’m the one who’s thankful. I was lonely and bored for a while, so it’s nice to have someone to talk to.”

The old gunsmith waved his hand as if he was sorry, as if he had become quite attached to them in just one day.

Still, we promised to communicate via amateur radio, so we’ll see each other again later.

After saying goodbye to the old gunsmith, we left the shopping district and started walking.

“Isn’t it heavy?”

“Hehe, this much is okay.”

I was worried because there was more luggage than I thought, but the students did a great job of carrying the luggage.

Everyone seemed to think that they should help, so they helped carry the load without complaint.

Thanks to this, I was able to focus only on the lead, so I looked at the map with Kang Pil-jae.

“How long will it take?”

“I think we’ll get there in just one or two more hours. This area is still safe, so I’m going to take the fastest route possible.”

Now we have almost completely passed the densely populated area and reached a relatively safe area.

We followed Kang Pil-jae’s instructions and headed to Hyehwa-dong, where the Biogeneca Korea branch is located.

“The weather has cleared up a lot.”

“It’s getting a little snowy now.”

The snowstorms that used to come every other day have now become much more frequent.

Of course, the temperature has risen considerably and the amount of time the sun is out during the day has also increased considerably.

The group took off the winter hats they had been wearing for a long time and walked, enjoying the sunlight.

As we were getting closer to our destination, Private Lee Hyeon-su, who was following us, asked.

“Brother, is that okay?”

“yes?”

“The soldiers at Biogeneca. I heard they don’t even talk to outsiders. If you go there, you won’t get shot, right?”

For some unknown reason, the soldiers guarding the Biozeneca building said they had completely sealed the building off from the outside world.

It was said that even civilians who were begging to be let in were shot, so Private Lee Hyeon-su’s worries were not unfounded.

“It’ll be okay.”

But here, there is the presence of an executive sister, and the Republic of Korea Army is also present.

Since it is not like there is no way to contact them at all, I reassured the worried group for the time being.

How much longer did I walk like that? I saw a sign on the road that said Hyehwa-dong.

Kang Pil-jae, who had been guiding the way for a while, followed the signs he had left behind and entered an alley.

“Now if we just get over here… … Huh?”

No, I was trying to go in.

But for some reason, the end of the alley was teeming with infected people.

I quickly sent a signal, and the group following behind quietly retreated.

“Was it always like this?”

“Oh, no. It was fine when I came.”

When Kang Pil-jae arrived, the alleyway that had been safe was suddenly filled with infected people.

Did someone try to pass through this alley, catch their attention, and then run away?

I approached them with a hopeful mind and quietly observed the movements of the infected group.

‘It’s not just aggro.’

They continue to move around Hyehwa-dong like one giant belt.

This means that something big, not a one-time aggro, caught their attention.

I frowned and thought deeply, bewildered by the completely unexpected development.

“Mr. Philjae, is there any other way?”

“Okay, let’s go for now.”

Likewise, Kang Pil-jae, who was embarrassed, guided us to another path he knew.

“It’s blocked here too.”

However, as soon as we found the road leading to Hyehwa-dong, it was blocked by infected people.

If not here, you would have to go through the main road, and the situation there was the same.

The group gradually grew tired of the endless movement, and Kang Pil-jae’s face also darkened.

“Let’s stop for a moment.”

Unable to stand it any longer, I eventually stopped moving in a nearby alley and let the group rest for a while.

And I took a map with me and tried to figure out the direction to where the Biozeneca building was.

“What are you going to do?”

“I need to check from a higher place.”

If you can see the intersection from here, you should at least go to a building with a high rooftop.

After ordering the group to rest, I headed to a nearby officetel with Kang Pil-jae.

Fortunately, the interior of the building was empty and the elevator was operating normally.

We quickly arrived at the rooftop, took out our telescopes, and turned our gaze toward the 12 o’clock direction.

“Over there.”

The intersection is jam-packed with cars.

The roads were clogged with countless vehicles, with infected people walking around between them.

After carefully checking my surroundings, I turned my gaze to the large building in the distance.

Then, the Korean branch I had been looking for appeared with the words “Biogeneca” written on it.

“… … ?”

But strangely enough, the soldiers guarding Biogeneca were nowhere to be seen.

No, where soldiers should have been, there were corpses of what appeared to be infected people strewn about.

A guard post that has lost its owner.

Black smoke rising from all over.

There must have been a fierce battle in the past, as bullet casings and corpses were strewn across the wall.

At the sight of what looked like a collapse, both Kang Pil-jae and I were left speechless.

“Are they all dead?”

“I don’t know.”

No matter how many infected people there are, they cannot break through that high wall and its powerful firepower.

If that were possible, I would have fallen a long time ago and greeted the Grim Reaper who was waiting for me.

But that is only an ‘external’ attack. It would be different if it were an ‘internal’ attack.

‘There was internal turmoil.’

Traces show that the attacks on the soldiers occurred simultaneously from both the outside and inside.

This meant that some kind of ‘incident’ had occurred inside the Biozeneca building.

But we didn’t have enough information to guess what happened.

I put down the telescope and wondered whether I should turn back or take a closer look.

Twinkle!

But at that moment, a reflector on the upper floor of a building in the distance sparkled in the sunlight.

Wait, what is that?

I looked back and forth between my telescope and the flash that had just passed my sight.

Then he turned the telescope glass toward the sun and tilted it sideways so that the light would be reflected.

Twinkle!

Then, as if they had been waiting, the upper floors of the building sent a quick response with a flash of light.

He is a person.