Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 108



Only Krnovel

57. Judgment (4)

“No. I decline.”

“why?”

“Do I have to just watch that unpleasant person, knowing when that guy will come without a sound?”

Manseok tried to say something, but he looked around and opened his mouth a little faster.

“Leave it to someone else.”

The corners of Manseok’s mouth went up.

He passed me by without saying anything.

Bam

The shoulder bumping was probably a hint that he was upset.

Anyway, that guy can’t do anything to me.

My help is absolutely essential if you want to deal with the Grim Reaper, who may come today or tomorrow.

While he was holed up in the container he was using as an office, he re-examined the guns and equipment the thugs had.

There is no particularly notable equipment.

There are no flares or night vision goggles.

Crappy LED lights were the only light we had, most of which were used to illuminate a man hanging from a pole towering over the container.

His plan – for the owl to swoop down on the judge and then shoot a device that would fire a death blade, killing both the owl and the judge, or turning the already dead judge and owl into minced meat – seems flawless on the surface.

The first traps that humans used to catch birds were probably designed to use bait to lure the birds, and when the birds took the bait, the bait would bite the birds.

But we must not forget that the enemy we face is similar to us.

I’ve told him that fact more than once, but that thug named Manseok doesn’t seem to pay much attention to its implications.

Night has come.

It just so happens to be a pitch-black time, close to the new moon.

Even the sky was covered with clouds as if it didn’t want to help the gangsters, making the already dark night even darker.

Our battlefield was also covered in darkness, but when Manseok gestured, the LED lights all turned on, illuminating the naked man tied to a pole towering over the container as if he were today’s product.

Manseok smiled brightly as he watched the struggling man.

“Hey, Judge! How do you feel? You like high places, don’t you? Hey! Do you think we’re all inferior to you when you’re up there?”

Manseok was hiding in a personal trench with spikes driven in tightly, holding a blader.

“I wanted to play with it a little longer, but I’m having a hard time. You know, kids who raise dogs abandon them when they’re having a hard time, right? It’s the same thing, so don’t feel too bad about it. I’m having a hard time these days, too.”

The judge tied to the pole said nothing.

No, I guess it’s true that I don’t have the energy to do it.

Because I haven’t seen what he ate today.

Manseok’s hatred for him shows no sign of abating.

“Hey. Your Honor. Let’s say that in this day and age, there are police and prosecutors, and I’m arrested and put on trial. Now that I’m in a higher position, I can speak up, right? What would you decide? Huh? Death penalty?! Life imprisonment?!”

If you look at the endless stream of sharp ridicule.

However, from my perspective as a hunter, what he’s talking about doesn’t seem like a very good option.

When I was a boy named Park Gyu, my mentor Jang Gi-yeong gave us a unique task.

The assignment was to think of some beasts that would be difficult to deal with when mutations occur, select them, and submit a report analyzing the reasons for their selection.

As expected, the first place went to Park Gyu.

Jang Ki-young called my name while receiving Lee Sang-hoon’s gaze that was so intense that the back of my head felt hot.

“Park Gyu. You’re totally Fabre!”

The compliments Jang Gi-yeong gave me at the time helped shatter the illusions I had about him.

It’s not Seton, it’s Fabre.

From then on, people started to look a little strange.

Anyway, the animal that Park Gyu-ga researched and was praised for at the time – the eagle owl – is a predator born to hunt.

Although hidden by its large eyes, the owl’s ears are of different heights on each side.

The difference is that you can identify your prey’s location through the sounds they make in pitch-black darkness.

I’m not sure about talking loudly like Manseok.

Wouldn’t that be more dangerous than a judge putting something on the table for you to eat?

But, it seems like things in this world are unpredictable.

“You ignorant human being.”

A sound burst out from an unexpected place.

He is a judge.

The judge who had been tied up suddenly opened his mouth.

“You lowly human being.”

With his whole body flailing as if he were a life trying to be born.

“Do you think judges are from the Joseon Dynasty? Do you think I can ignore the law and regulations and do whatever I want? Do you know how much I struggled and agonized over arresting that guy? I let him go because the reasons why I couldn’t arrest him were too obvious. You didn’t know that, did you? That guy was going to kill your daughter? If you knew, would you have gone and protected him? You didn’t? Right? Right?”

It’s unexpected.

It’s amazing that this man, whose soul seems to have been destroyed by endless abuse, still has the strength to say such things.

Even without clothes, even though he was ridiculed and made fun of by gangsters, he still retained his humanity.

But now, with his imminent death looming before him, the man takes off his mask of patience and boldly reveals his true feelings to the ruthless thug.

As Manseok said, from the high position he likes.

“This, this, this kid?!”

Manseok’s face, looking up at the judge, looked like an evil spirit because of the backlight of the LED.

He emerged from his spiked private jet and aimed his blade at the judge.

“This son of a bitch has been keeping his mouth shut all this time, but now that it looks like he’s about to get chewed out, he’s going to open his mouth?”

Bam

Manseok dropped the blader on the ground.

A deep smile permeated his face like a demon yaksha like a dark cloud.

“Hey, close it.”

He waved his hand.

“No hunting today. That’s right. Hunting and all. I won’t let you open your mouth again. Hey! Bring your gun. I’ll blow a hole in your cheek.”

A brutal threat.

But the judge continued to speak without stopping, as if he could no longer turn back.

“Laws and institutions were created for beasts like you. The presumption of innocence and the three-trial system were created for lowly beasts who are easily excited and only shout for death.”

“This kid?!”

Manseok’s eyes rolled back.

He climbed the ladder like an angry monkey.

With a pistol in one hand.

Not only me, but all the gangsters watched Manseok climbing the ladder with ominous eyes.

“······.”

The wind blew.

From east to west.

Suddenly I stared at the horizon.

“?”

There is something.

Something darker than darkness.

“Mutation!”

I shouted before I could think.

“Mutation!!!”

Tata tata tang!

He fired a bullet at the dark object.

It soon slid sideways and disappeared into the darkness.

“what?!”

Manseok, who was climbing the ladder, looked at me with a blank expression.

“Mutation!”

“There isn’t any?”

He looked around once, then suddenly looked down at me with a knowing expression.

“You’re not trying to save that judge, are you? Huh? You lied because you didn’t want to see that judge die?”

“······.”

It looks like a thug is a thug.

It seems like you have a knack for interpreting everything arbitrarily and in a crazy way.

“go away.”

He turned his head and said coldly.

“Before I change my mind. If you go now, I’ll spare your life.”

“No, sir. There was a really black one!”

The thug I worked with said:

“Be quiet, you little punk!”

At that moment we saw.

The fact that a dark, massive being had invaded the dim curtain-like edge of the LED lights strung below to highlight the naked judge.

“this.”

Mutation, huh.

Despite my warning shots, the bastard showed up determined to attack us humans.

The monster was trying to pounce on Manseok, not the judge.

Because they make the most noise, they judge people as food and put their claws out in front to crush people like cans of cola.

bang!

A single bullet tore through the air.

Non-stop shooting.

It’s a survival skill that we learned in school and practiced hundreds of times in real life.

The bullet hit the mutation’s torso as it tried to attack Manseok.

“Squeak!”

Foodduck!

It worked.

The creature flapped its wings and soared into the air.

Manseok looked at me with surprised eyes.

“Get down quickly!”

He motioned for him to come down.

Even a self-willed thug only listens when his life is at stake.

“Oh, thank you!”

He bowed his head to me.

He answered, squinting his eyes and staring into the darkness.

“It’s not over yet.”

“It was an amazing shot.”

Manseok timidly entered the private house with thorn stakes driven in.

“It was a real hunter-like shooting.”

“Be quiet.”

Before I could finish speaking, I heard a dull thud as something landed on the other side.

“Kkieeeek!!!”

It’s the sound of mutation.

“Huh!”

Then a human scream erupted.

I looked back.

A terrifyingly large owl was sitting on a container filled with spikes, holding a spike that it had nearly impaled itself on with its talons.

The spleen’s trap did not work.

But it did its job well enough.

He saved the life of an honest thug whose name I don’t know, and on top of that.

Tata tata tata tang!

It took just enough time for one bullet from the magazine to completely pierce the blackened body.

Even if it’s a mutation, it will react after about 30 bullets are fired into its body.

“Kkiiiiiiii······.”

The bastard turned his head almost 180 degrees, looked at me with big, creepy eyes, and fell down under the container, writhing.

“Killed!”

“I killed him!”

The thugs rushed out from their stake positions and rushed outside to watch the mutation fall.

The women who had been hiding inside the container also came out of the container and followed the gangsters.

It seems that curiosity cannot be contained even in the most remote situations.

“Finally! I killed it! That little owl chick!”

“I can’t even use it when a real hunter comes.”

“Brother! The owl is dead! It won’t move at all!”

Amidst the cheers that made it seem like the store was going to burst, Manseok approached me with an embarrassed expression.

“······I’m sorry about earlier.”

“no.”

“Thank you so much. Really. Really thank you.”

I looked up at the judge, still hanging alone, bathed in all the light.

“Can’t you just let me go?”

I know it’s a mess.

But even if you kill someone, it doesn’t seem too harsh to take revenge.

“I understand you have a grudge, but isn’t it all over when you die?”

“That kid?”

Manseok snorted.

“That kid hasn’t changed at all. Even though he looks like that and looks like that, he still thinks he’s different from others. He’s a kid with a sense of superiority ingrained in his bones.”

“It doesn’t look like that.”

“You must be saying that because you don’t know that person well.”

Manseok pointed his gun at the judge.

“It’s a shame.”

Although he grumbled, it seems like Manseok accepted my request.

As you can see, he pointed his gun at the judge to sentence him to a clean death.

But there was a hint of hesitation in his finger on the trigger.

“I wanted to see the ugly face hidden behind that arrogant mask that kid wears······.”

He was mocking himself.

“What a fucking kid.”

He sighed and aimed his gun at the judge again.

thud!

Suddenly a loud noise was heard from beyond the container.

It’s the sound of something heavy hitting the floor.

This was followed by the eerie sound of bones breaking.

“Eww!!!”

“Ouch, owl!”

“There’s one more!”

As soon as he finished speaking, a large, black object flew into the sky.

In the dim light of the LED lights, its spread wings fully revealed its true identity.

“······.”

One possibility was overlooked.

Owls mate.

The guy descended and made another loud noise.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

“The courage is dead! The courage has been defeated!”

“Gyaaaaaaah!!!”

“Run away! Aaaah!!!”

I aimed my gun at it along with Manseok, but it didn’t fly back up.

It approached humans without flying and only on two legs, and began to take merciless revenge on humans who had harmed its mate with its claws and beak.

Beyond the container, a truly terrifying symphony was unfolding.

The sound of flapping wings, the sound of claws and beaks tearing flesh and breaking bones, the screams of terrified humans and the last sighs of the dying can be heard beyond the steel.

Manseok’s eyes met mine.

He picked up the blader from the floor and gave it to me.

I nodded and gestured to him.

Hide in a safe place.

Immediately afterwards, a dark shape appeared beyond the container.

Aim and fire in a split second.

It’s one of the few lessons I learned in school that was useful in the real world.

Guns are the weapon I have used and handled the most.

The rest of the hunter equipment isn’t much different.

But the trajectory of this shotgun blade is unknown.

But in order to survive, you have no choice but to pull the trigger.

Eighteen titanium blades exploded at the thing that was trying to jump over the container and attack us.

Those countless blades cut off its feathers, wings, torso, large eyes, and even its beak, slaughtering it in one blow.

But the blade that didn’t reach the man sliced ​​through the pillar the judge was tied to, and another blind blade tore through one of the containers, hitting the opposite corner and bouncing off, scattering debris everywhere.

One of the fragments struck Manseok’s temple.

“!!!”

Manseok fell down without even being able to scream, and the pole the judge was tied to fell on top of him.

*

“That store was okay. I had something to buy too.”

Defender expressed his regret about the store in an unusual way.

He doesn’t know about the store’s final fate.

Because I didn’t say anything.

“By the way, that judge. What happened to him now? Is he still being dragged around like a dog by that thug?”

Well, that’s fine.

You might say no.

But at least from my perspective, I think in the end the judge was dragged away by the thug.

I think back to their last days.

Man-seok collapsed and was unable to move, and the judge miraculously survived when the end of the pole caught on the end of the opposite container, and his bonds were broken by the impact.

The situation was reversed.

The judge was freed, and Manseok was pinned to the pole – probably with both legs broken – and unable to move.

Up until that point, it was a perfect judge’s victory.

In that he won the approval of the capricious god through the virtue of superhuman patience.

But the tables were turned once again.

The judge picked up the gun that had fallen on the floor and approached Man-seok, who was unable to move.

The face was eerily similar to Manseok’s.

That’s right.

It’s the face that Manseok wanted to see.

This is the true face, soaked in hatred and revenge, hidden behind a noble mask.

Manseok opened his eyes slightly wide and looked at that face for a while, then suddenly turned his head as if something had come to mind and looked at me.

He spoke to me without making a sound, just with his lips.

“Don’t. Intervene.”

The face was not much different from the judge’s.

Likewise, he was consumed by the madness of hatred.

“······.”

Manseok looked up at the judge.

He asked softly, smiling.

“Are you finally going to give your verdict?”

The judge laughed heartily.

“capital punishment!”

Manseok also laughed.

Rather, more cheerful and refreshing than the judge.

When the gunshots drowned out the laughter, for a moment I couldn’t tell who had pronounced judgment on whom.

Because the faces of the murderer and the dead resembled each other like twins.