Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 10



Only Krnovel

10. Chaebol (1)

What will happen to the conglomerates when the world is ruined?

This is something that any Korean would be curious about.

Recently, an active community user, ‘Reporter Yangban’, reported the current status of a conglomerate family.

gijayangban: Found the hideout of Seokju Group Chairman Park Cheol-ju! It’s Cheolju Ham~ See~

The latest news about the conglomerates reported by the reporter was enough to drive all of our doomsayers into despair.

They built a concrete fortress on a gentle slope that could easily accommodate several dozen people, and created its own ecosystem within it for everything from farming to manufacturing to entertainment.

The moment I saw the miniature golf course inside the fortress, captured by a drone, I couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.

“······and.”

As expected, he is a conglomerate.

If you have a fortune in the tens of billions, you can make things like that.

I’m not particularly jealous.

No matter how hard you try, you can’t imitate it.

In addition to Park Cheol-ju, who was mentioned by the reporter, other leading conglomerates in South Korea have prepared for disaster by building fortresses similar to or slightly worse than his.

There were not many conglomerates who left Korea, but it is not safe to go abroad either, and the biggest reason is that what works in Korea does not work abroad.

Most of them abandoned the group.

He sought to survive by demoting himself from a modern monarch with tens of thousands of employees to the head of a single family.

It may be the rational choice in this doomed world, but there were those who chose a different path.

*

Since my first visit, I have tried to visit Seoul at least once every two months.

Every time I went, the surrounding scenery became more gloomy, miserable, and above all, dangerous.

Every time I entered Seoul, I passed through Gangnam. Gangnam, once one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in South Korea, has now deteriorated into a refugee camp filled with tents of all kinds and shabby structures.

Every time you enter a refugee camp where the number of tents decreases, there is a makeshift building that catches your eye.

The crumbling building had a sign that said it was in better condition than the building itself.

[ storm ]

One of the conglomerates that once dominated the South Korean economy.

This building was built about a year and four months ago, or three months after the outbreak of the war.

As I was passing through a crowded refugee camp, I saw a large crowd of people gathered together like a cloud, and indeed, a delicious smell wafted through the air.

I heard that it is a free cafeteria that the Papung Group set up with their own money.

There is a world of difference between running a cafeteria when the economy is doing well and running a cafeteria when trade is paralyzed.

Papung established and operated several of these cafeterias in major locations in Seoul.

Even though Pa-Pung is a top tier conglomerate, isn’t this a bit too much?

Anyway, I had nothing else to do, so I waited in line for a full two hours. For some reason, I was served boiled pork and beef soup, which were the kind of dishes you would see at a funeral. They were quite tasty, and they even gave adults half a paper cup of soju.

When I was in the bunker I didn’t drink or even smoke, but here I was given a free drink.

“Wow~!”

This Park Gyu, a man so light-hearted that he could turn into a windbreaker with just a bowl of noodles and a glass of soju!

But while I was eating, dark stories that were completely different from what I was thinking were going around.

“That chairman. It looks like he’s trying to get involved in politics.”

“It’s obvious even if you look at it.”

“Isn’t it because you have evil intentions to spend money like this in these times? What about comforting the people?”

To be honest, it was annoying to hear.

In these difficult times, you should at least be grateful for the food you’ve received. Why do you keep suspecting other people’s intentions?

He himself is not a person who lives only with good intentions.

I wanted to say something to him since I was a person who had received the grace of a glass of soju, but after thinking about it carefully, I felt like I didn’t deserve that level of loyalty, so I held back.

As I was leaving the restaurant, having just calmed down, something caught my eye.

“This is Jepoongho.”

A middle-aged man wearing well-tailored suit trousers under an active jumper was greeting and shaking hands with people who had come to eat noodles, and making his name known, while others forced smiles.

“Have you eaten well? This is Je-pung-ho.”

Jepoongho.

He is the owner of the Papung Group.

Behind him stood a group of dignified men with similar features, as well as neat young men and pretty girls who were probably his disciples, standing in order with awkward expressions.

I headed towards it as if possessed by a ghost.

My intention was to shake hands with the daughter of a wealthy family.

But when I actually got there, the girls were far behind, and the one who actually shook my hand was the energetic and handsome Je Poong Ho.

“This is Jepoongho.”

This was my first time seeing the actual head of a conglomerate so closely and even shaking his hand.

When I first saw him, I realized for the first time that the eyes of a non-hunter could shine like this.

Moreover, his hands were rough and hard, and I felt an unknown power beyond the grip strength in his hands themselves.

I heard later that there will be a parliamentary election soon.

It’s not because all the members of the National Assembly are dead, but because their terms have already expired.

However, the fact that the death rate of South Korean National Assembly members was only 1% in a war that evaporated 18% of the South Korean population foreshadowed a significant result in some way.

*

After getting some noodles, we arrived at the bottom of a building.

This building belongs to the National Disaster Reduction Committee, or Kukwiwon for short.

This extra-legal institution, known as the modern-day Office of the Inspector General, has been the most powerful and influential institution in the Republic of Korea since the outbreak of the war.

The main reason I visit Seoul is because I have many acquaintances in the National Assembly.

Actually, I got a lot of benefits.

The most important information, of course, is walkie-talkies, military frequencies, spam, holiday cooking oil packages, etc.

There were unusually few people that day.

In particular, there was no female employee who asked me to do something every day.

As I was wandering around, exchanging greetings with a security guard whose face I recognized, a person I had never seen before spoke to me.

“Is it okay if I get a moment?”

A blank face and dead eyes, an extremely businesslike tone and posture.

It was cold from the first impression.

“What’s going on?”

“You are probably aware of the current situation on the front lines. The fighting is getting more intense, and our current forces, especially those capable of enduring the war, are insufficient······.”

As expected, it looks like a recruiter.

Due to the nature of war, quality is more important than quantity of troops, so instead of just recruiting anyone, they randomly approach those who are physically fit and look promising and offer them a job.

This guy seems to like me, but I have absolutely no intention of going to the front lines.

“I feel bad saying this myself. If I had any ability, would I have come here to sell my connections and beg for money?”

I tried to accept it with some confidence.

“I heard you were a hunter back in the day.”

Well, it didn’t even work.

He asked with a sigh.

“Who sent you? Is it Director Lee Sang-hoon?”

If it was Lee Sang-hoon, I was thinking of going to see him and saying something.

“No. This is Commissioner Kim Da-ram.”

“Are you Kim Da-ram?”

It’s been a long time since I’ve heard that name.

He’s my junior.

There was a guy who followed me particularly well.

I think he may have liked me.

In my memory, all I can remember is people who are full of useless enthusiasm but are naive and always make mistakes and rely on me, but that must be an act that ignores the passage of time.

“Senior Park.”

Can a person change in just 5 years?

Even though she was not young at the time, the junior who had a girlish heart had now turned into a manager with a worn-out image who didn’t even shed a drop of water, let alone blood, even if he stabbed her.

“Long time no see?”

I can tell just by hearing your voice.

This guy is a completely different creature from the good junior I knew.

On her desk is a photo of herself with her husband and child.

I became a mother.

I’m Kim Da-ram.

“I’ll keep it short, senior. Please help me just this once.”

“I want to say, ‘Why should I help?’ But I can’t, right?”

“Do you want to be dragged into the country? Or do you want to live freely like you are now?”

“Didn’t you make a deal to never serve again?”

“Do you think that kind of promise would work in today’s world?”

The difference between my serious face and my junior’s dumbfounded face seemed to represent the gap between the reality I had imagined and the actual reality.

He avoided her gaze with a bitter smile.

“···You have to live freely.”

“Then help me just this once. I made a deal with Lee Sang-hoon to get rid of it.”

“Lee Sang Hoon?”

“Don’t hold ill feelings toward him because he doesn’t care about you. He’s not an individual anymore, he’s someone who sees numbers.”

“It seems that the world changes when you become a high-ranking person.”

“Senior, you know very well that we are short on people, right? And what happens on the front lines?”

She, who usually had a blank expression, glared at me straight in the eye this time, mixing in some accusation.

“······.”

A bitter taste leaves my mouth.

I know that too.

What’s happening at the border.

That I am not completely innocent.

In the desolate silence, Kim Da-ram turned his gaze back to the documents.

“Jepungho.”

“Jepungho?”

Under the aroma of beef soup, the face of a man with unusually bright eyes and a strange evil power flashed before my eyes as if drawn.

“That guy wants to catch monsters with his own people.”

She handed over the papers.

“This is.”

If the report is correct, it’s a ridiculous operation.

No, it’s a mass suicide under the guise of an operation.

Before I could even bring myself to say anything, my quick-witted junior spoke coldly without even looking at me.

“Just pretend.”

I know that my junior has changed, but the change in the once kind and gentle junior has really permeated my heart.

“This is the last time.”

“I will prevent you from being dragged to the front lines as long as I am alive.”

“······thanks.”

But it seems like his true nature hasn’t changed.

It was a moment when I was about to turn around, embracing the bitterness of life and the rare emotion that blooms within it.

“senior.”

Kim Da-ram called me.

“Why doesn’t it seem like you haven’t aged at all?”

I didn’t respond to that.

*

It was a month later that I met Je-pung-ho again.

The meeting place is the headquarters building of the Papung Group, designed by a world-renowned British architect.

Although the headquarters of the company survived the nuclear attack, there were problems with the power system and elevators, so instead of using the company’s magnificent high-speed elevators, people had to take temporary elevators installed outdoors for construction purposes to slowly ascend the 55th floor.

“eww.”

It was fucking cold.

In the group conference room that was once said to be only accessible to those who had exerted considerable power in South Korea, a group of people dressed in suits, including me, were each taking their own seats.

Judging from the employee ID he is wearing, he appears to be an employee of the group. It seems that the group is maintaining some semblance of order even though export routes are blocked.

I suddenly became curious.

Are they getting paid? Are they getting the performance bonuses that their employees brag about?

Je-Pung-Ho, who used to shake hands with everyone with a friendly expression at the free cafeteria, was sitting with his back turned in the center seat furthest from the conference room.

He didn’t react at all when I came in.

Instead, the person who confronted me was an intelligent man in his mid-fifties who appeared to be a secretary.

“Are you Mr. Park Gyu? I heard you were a former hunter.”

He interviewed me briefly.

Career, combat experience, rank, etc.

Anyway, most of my records have been erased.

I said it as it came to me.

“I’m a D-rank. I’ve stood in front of the gate and have some combat experience, but I’ve never been the main.”

Je-pung-ho coughed in vain, clearly showing discomfort.

I didn’t really care.

I was just curious as to why.

Why would someone like the head of a conglomerate suddenly go hunting monsters?

Even if we live in a world where trade is cut off and business is impossible, isn’t this an excessive change in industry?

Unfortunately, none of the suit guys could answer my questions.

From the moment I revealed my meager career, I, Park Gyu, was imprinted on them as something similar to office furniture.

After a while.

“You may leave.”

I was politely ejected from the conference room without ever getting a chance to speak.

Actually, I had nothing to say.

I did have one question.

In the hallway, there was another group of people gathered in twos and threes, with a different atmosphere from the conference room. When I asked a friendly-looking person, he just smiled and nodded as if he were a foreigner and didn’t say anything.

I kept my mouth shut because I thought I had a rough idea of ​​what kind of treatment I would receive, but then someone unexpectedly approached me.

“What’s going on?”

A young lady of mysterious age.

It’s a face I remember.

He was one of the group of young men who stood behind Je-pung-ho as if he was an entourage when he shook his hand at the cafeteria.

I remembered her because she was quite a beauty.

“I have a question for you. Is that okay?”

When I first saw her in the hallway, she seemed cold and difficult to approach, but when I actually spoke to her, she quickly put on a trained smile and responded kindly.

“Why does the chairman do things like hunting monsters?”

Unfortunately, unlike others, she didn’t wear an employee ID card, so I couldn’t find out her name, but judging by her face value, she must be the chairman’s granddaughter or niece.

She thought for a moment, looked around, made sure no one was there, then sighed and told the story.

“Did you know that the chairman was planning to run for the National Assembly elections some time ago?”

“yes.”

“That fell through.”

“why?”

“The incumbent lawmakers have effectively extended their terms indefinitely.”

“Oh, like that.”

As I found out later, it was almost unanimous.

They say there were two abstentions, but in my opinion, those guys are more disgusting and evil.

“The chairman’s plan has been disrupted. He has been providing considerable support regardless of the ruling or opposition party. From providing convenience to individual members to repairing the broken parliament building. So when we protested as a group, the National Assembly responded by saying that they would provide a seat if we could find one of the vacant constituencies. That’s how things ended up.”

“Is that ‘constituency’ where we want to go?”

“I’m not going. The chairman and his loyal followers will go.”

Contrary to first impressions, she didn’t seem like a very windy person.

I asked while I was at it.

“Me? Not Papungga. To be exact, I’m the person below him. My father is the head of a first-tier subcontractor.”

She sighed and glared at the conference room door with resentful eyes.

“······What kind of attachment do you have to a group that has already failed?”

Only then did I realize.

This woman has no qualms about going against the grain.

Rather, she harbored a clear hostility towards the storm.

As soon as the waters opened, she poured out the words she had been waiting for.

“They’re all out of their minds. They’re not even related by blood, they’re just employees, so why are they all acting like they did before the war?”

“well······.”

“excuse me.”

Suddenly the woman’s eyes sparkled.

“Are you a hunter?”

“Not now.”

“I have a favor to ask.”

She strode forward.

The faint scent of perfume penetrated my nose.

“Father, can you please stop me?”

She put her father’s business card in my hand.

“Please stop this madness.”

Just then the conference room door opened.

The one who took the lead was Je-Pung-Ho.

He walked down the hallway with long, unhesitating strides, looking straight ahead with his serious, solemn face and his glaring eyes that could sparkle at any moment.

Behind him, a dozen or so men in suits followed silently, each with their own unique expression.

The executive who had dealt with me earlier looked at me and spoke rudely.

“Let’s go, Hunter Park.”

“Should I go too?”

“yes.”

I looked back at the woman who had been talking to me.

Many people passed between me and her, but her eyes were focused only on me.

I thought about it for a while, but it didn’t take long.

“It might not work out.”