Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 113



Only Krnovel

60. The Traitor (3)

After the war began, Chinese military units did not take any significant action.

We were too weak to immediately advance to Seoul and raise the Five Star Red Flag, and our forces were not strong enough to deal with them on our own.

However, if the country set its mind to it, it did not seem that difficult to destroy them with just air power or artillery firepower.

There was a reason for this.

“We put the nukes on the table. We’ll find a way to quietly return to our home country, so pretend you didn’t see us until we got there. That’s how our landing force was able to live on the tip of the peninsula, albeit precariously. When I heard that our home country had been destroyed, I was terrified, but on the other hand, I felt relieved.”

Since losing contact with their home country, they have done nothing and have had no need to do anything.

Everything was free.

Except for leaving their areas permitted by the Korean government.

In fact, if you go outside, you’ll see monsters, zombies, and mutations all around.

The power wasn’t that great either.

About five hundred people.

Even that was soon reduced to three hundred.

Some people crossed the sea by submarine to go to China, while others, unable to adapt to life in a foreign land, deserted or took their own lives.

Those who survived were mostly moderate people.

Even people who had hatred for Korea found their anger subside as they lived a life where they could see the slow-moving years and peaceful waves crashing.

It seemed as if they would live and die forever in the land they named Shangri-La until the end of the world.

Slowly and peacefully.

A single radio transmission shook the peaceful camp.

-Deploy the remaining strategic weapons in Incheon.

More suspicious than the content of the radio transmission was its source.

The mysterious radio transmission came in the form of an encrypted transmission usually sent from the mainland.

It was the same wavelength used by the mainland military leadership.

The unit was turned upside down.

Public opinion was divided.

The position is that it must be followed because it is an order from the superior, and that the source of the radio signal is suspicious, so let’s wait and see.

In the end, the side that wanted to attack won.

Their numbers were not greater.

Those who were louder, more willing to fight, and more capable of beating up their own men rose to power.

Eventually, they informed Hainan of this fact and asked for support.

During the process, a shootout broke out within the unit, but it was the moderates who lost.

More than a dozen people were killed and many more escaped.

Mr. Ma frowned and tilted his head, still looking suspicious, as if he was still unsure.

“Who on earth sent that radio transmission?”

Mr. Ma was confident.

That radio could never have been sent from China.

“That must have been sent by Jongcheol.”

The Defender in the driver’s seat let out a sigh.

“That kid has been saying weird things for a while now, so I just ignored him······.”

“The contact sent you? How did he do that?”

Mr. Ma reacted in disbelief.

“He said he found something in the ocean. It was a Chinese warship communication device or something. He was excited and talking about how he was going to cause trouble with it.”

“······It seems like you’re in contact with that friend?”

The defender nodded.

“We do wireless too. Not the cheap ones like K-walkie-talkies, but real long-range wireless. Connecting to the world.”

As we were talking, darkness suddenly came.

Heo Jong-cheol’s base was on the outskirts of the city.

I looked back at the Defender in front of a junkyard filled with scrap metal and trash.

“Can we talk first?”

It seems he still doesn’t want his teammates to die.

“People are weird, but it’s okay. You saw it too, right?”

If you look at the way you came here to protect Heo Jong-cheol.

“If the story is possible.”

I drove slowly towards the container box fortress I had visited earlier.

At the entrance, a mutant dog can be seen chained up.

When he saw us, he bared his teeth.

Mr. Ma was horrified when he saw it, but I thought it was gold.

I wonder if it will be safe.

That’s something to go back and check.

The vehicle stopped.

We got out of the car with our guns.

During that time, there was no response from inside.

I kicked the door open and went inside with the Defender.

There is no one.

The inside was empty.

however,

“Jeongho.”

A voice was heard.

From outside the container, not inside.

“Why did you come here? Without even calling. And with a gun.”

The owner of that voice was none other than Heo Jong-cheol.

I exchanged glances with the defender.

“Jongcheol.”

The defender spoke to Heo Jong-cheol.

In the meantime, I was estimating the guy’s position.

It’s outside.

Perhaps with that power of clairvoyance, he is talking to us while looking straight through the container wall.

“Put the gun down.”

Heo Jong-cheol said in a cold voice.

“Put down the gun, turn around with your legs apart. We’ll talk later. The one next to you, oh, that’s the one who came before. You should do the same.”

That can’t be happening.

Even if Heo Jong-cheol spares Defender, I will not forgive him.

I don’t think I need to ask others for their consent when my life is at stake.

He slowly lowered the gun.

Probably conscious of his gaze.

“Why are you doing that?”

He said, putting down his gun.

A cold reply came from across the wall.

“Put the gun down too.”

I did as I was told and asked questions.

“You want to kill three million people? And they’re citizens of your own country?”

At this, a cold laughter echoed from beyond.

My ears twitched faintly.

Changing location.

Little by little, but surely.

“Didn’t I say this before? I’m going to make this place like Jeju. I’m going to reduce the population and relieve the pressure on the cracks.”

“What about the monsters that have already appeared? There are monsters coming from the north right now.”

“He’s not coming? He’s not coming.”

“I don’t know. Even in China······.”

“I hate this country.”

Heo Jong-cheol cut me off sharply.

His movements stopped.

“why?”

“Do you need a reason to hate me? Come on, turn around. I can see everything.”

I don’t have clairvoyance, so I can’t know what he sees beyond that wall.

But at least he didn’t find fault with my secret weapon.

“Heo Jong-cheol.”

Called his name.

A gasp, more like a protest than an answer, was heard from beyond.

This is enough.

Whirik-

He threw the axe he had on his waist in the direction where he felt his presence.

Phew!

As I watched the axe blade stick out through the wall, I immediately rolled down, grabbed my gun, and pulled the trigger.

Tata tata tata tang!

The direction is the direction where Heo Jong-cheol’s voice was heard.

The fired bullet pierced the container’s steel plate and created a long horizontal hole.

A dark shadow could be seen scurrying away in the light streaming in through the hole.

“Ugh!”

Did you get hit in the leg?

I see him limping away.

It was a split-second match, but a dangerous one.

Heo Jong-cheol’s use of container walls to block his vision in order to maximize his clairvoyance was the best strategy Minor Awaken could employ.

Moreover, like a hunter, he knew how to erase his presence.

If he wanted to win, he should have just fired when we couldn’t find him.

At the point when he attempted to engage in conversation, he provided the starting point for defeat.

It was when I was about to reload and aim my gun again to finish it off.

The Defender waved at me.

“I’ll catch it.”

“You could die.”

“No, I’m not dead.”

“Let’s go together.”

We left the container together.

But the moment we left the container, something black covered us.

A mutant dog that was chained up.

Heo Jong-cheol broke the chain and released the dog.

The scene of the dog’s mouth gnawing on the defender’s neck as if it were about to eat it unfolded as if in slow motion.

The defender’s horrified face too.

“······.”

Not to brag, but I’ve been in this situation hundreds of times.

I lost several colleagues right before my eyes.

The rifle fired.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Even the biggest guy would fall over if he got five bullets in his eye.

The mutation dog was upside down, convulsing, blood and mucus spraying from its ruptured eyeballs.

After switching the joystick to rapid fire, I fired in rapid succession, grinding down on the guy’s fragile abdomen.

Tata tata tata tang!

The writhing, twitching, convulsing mutant dog has stopped.

Defender and Masi looked at me with blank expressions at the same time.

“S, Skeleton!”

I reloaded and went to find Heo Jong-cheol.

He was already marching far away.

Long range is not my calling, but I aimed my gun at the guy’s back for a moment before stopping the Defender’s gaze and putting the gun down.

He’s finished.

I’ll probably never come back here again.

If you don’t care about your life.

But the situation is still ongoing.

I looked back at Mr. Ma.

“If you know this place, does that mean your colleagues know this place too?”

Mr. Ma nodded.

“Who’s in the vehicle? The hunter and other soldiers? How many are there?”

“There will be at least 15 people on board.”

“Including the Hunter?”

“yes.”

I’m fighting fifteen elite Chinese soldiers in someone else’s house, not in my bunker, in the outskirts of Incheon.

Even if Heo Jong-cheol is not present, the fact that a truck carrying a nuclear bomb came here is already a serious problem in itself.

Is there any way to prevent them from coming at all or to send them back?

The best thing to do is to contact Woo Min-hee, but she is somewhere else and cannot be reached.

Even if I tell other soldiers, no one will believe me.

First of all, you never know when that truck will come.

“Should I go and talk about it?”

The defender looked at me and asked.

“No. I don’t think that’s true.”

If a battle breaks out, you’ll need at least one more man.

If a truck comes while the Defender is away, there’s nothing I can do.

Even if you lay a death trap and wait, your firepower is absolutely insufficient.

The mutant corpses strewn across the floor will also serve to heighten their alertness.

“······.”

What should I do?

A dilemma where you can’t do anything.

The one who turned the situation around was the Chinese, who could be said to be the originator of all this.

“That!”

Mr. Ma discovered something.

He was so excited that he was even speaking in Chinese.

“This is a cryptographic communication device!”

“Encrypted communications equipment?”

“This is what he used to send us a fake signal. I’m sure of it! This equipment is only assigned to field army headquarters!”

“······.”

He asked Mr. Ma, looking at the encrypted communication equipment.

“Is this maneuverable?”

“Yes, you can use it.”

“Is there a microphone?”

“Of course, voice communication is also possible. He must have sent it in the form of a telegram because he was afraid of the awkward Chinese pronunciation.”

“Excuse me, can you connect me?”

The defender saw me.

“Skeleton. Do you speak Chinese?”

I looked back at him and answered calmly.

“no.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

At that time, Mr. Ma connected the communication.

Chijijijik-

Mr. Ma handed me the microphone.

“Connected.”

His swollen face was filled with boundless trust.

I slowly picked up the microphone, which was connected by a black wire that was coiled like a pig’s tail.

Soon Chinese could be heard from the other side.

Judging from the tone, it seemed like a procedure to confirm rank, name, affiliation, etc.

I listened to them silently and said a word.

“Ding hoa~.”

There was a stony silence on the other side.

They’re not the only ones.

You can see the faces of Mr. Marsh and Defender hardening.

He continued talking without paying any attention.

“Tangsuyuk Nanjawans Nishipaloma~”

Only then do the Chinese notice the strangeness and utter a few words.

This is the intended reaction.

As I gained confidence, I unknowingly started to show off my signature beatboxing moves.

“Cheering, cheering, cheering, cheering, Amyris, China people, come on.”

Only then do the Chinese realize something and shout something.

“Washing patties. Washing? Brazilian waxing~.”

He put the mic down and shrugged.

“If I do this, they won’t come, right?”

“Wh, what?!”

I looked back at Mr. Ma.

“Nuclear. You said there was only one?”

“Yes, that’s right!”

“So I’m going back. Now that it’s been revealed that I was communicating with this crazy guy, I’m not going back and giving up.”

Only then did the Defender nod and hit his forehead.

“Skeleton. Are you a genius?”

“······.”

I don’t think he’s a genius.

In fact, the person who fears Chinese trucks more than anyone else is Park Gyu-gi.

I tried to contact Woo Min-hee again, desperately hoping that they would go back to this nonsense.

As expected, there was no way to contact Woo Min-hee.

*

I spent the night in anxiety.

Heo Jong-cheol did not show up and the truck did not show up either.

I tried to contact the Chinese again.

They unilaterally cut off the line while talking nonsense.

When I asked Mr. Ma, he answered with a bitter smile.

“He’s swearing.”

He laughed and I laughed too.

It seems that this skeleton operation was a success.

thud-

The encryption equipment did its job well enough.

After throwing it outside, he smashed it with a hammer and gave it a belated discharge.

The Defender looked at the broken equipment and asked me a question.

“How did that kid Jongcheol end up like that?”

“······well.”

I knew the answer, but I didn’t say it out loud.

In every country, there are people who hate their own country.

Just as there is no cuisine that satisfies everyone’s taste, there is no such thing as a country that makes everyone happy.

Heo Jong-cheol was that kind of person.

Although he was Korean, he hated people of the same blood as him more than anyone else.

That’s why he could think of killing three million people without any hesitation.

However, it is not known whether that hatred is vague or blind.

I think it’s the former.

If he had felt blind hatred for all Koreans, wouldn’t he have tried to destroy this country in a different way, more actively?

I think he is a traitor.

In the sense that they hated their own people for vague and unspecified reasons.

But it seems that there wasn’t only one traitor.

“You asked me the reason earlier, right?”

Mr. Ma approached me.

“Why did I betray my unit?”

He took off his Chinese military uniform and put on a suit he had taken out of Heo Jong-cheol’s closet.

“I guess I can answer honestly now.”

The man, who now looked completely Korean, took a deep breath as he looked at the junkyard and the sea and city beyond it.

With a sigh that was soon fading away, the man revealed his true feelings.

“I hate my country too.”

He waved and headed into the city.

I don’t know what he, a foreigner, would do in a Korean city, but I quietly wished him blessings.

But no hope could be found in his swollen expression.

“······Two traitors.”

I muttered to myself as he left.

I won’t judge who is right or wrong.

*

“I just sent it. A color photo.”

Dajeong sent me a new photo of a mutation corpse.

Fortunately, there was no gold or puppies there.

But then I noticed the female next to Gold lying face down like a dead rat.

Another photo sent by Dajeong showed a group of mutant dogs, presumed to be part of the Gold Pack, leaving the wasteland and heading south.

After pouring some coffee beans into a cup, I climbed up the hill and looked around while savoring the coffee.

Before we knew it, the land was turning brown and gold.

“······after.”

Slowly, the world around me is also changing.

The wind became noticeably colder.