Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 186



Only Krnovel

Episode 186

86. Story (4)

Baek Seung-hyun’s wife, who was hiding under the bed, held her breath while covering the child’s mouth, and Baek Seung-hyun, who was hanging from a harness, held a gun in one hand and did not move at all, glaring at the shadow reflected outside the window with murderous eyes.

“Fuck.”

The man stepped back.

And then a scream erupted from nearby.

“Who, who! Help me! Please!”

Baek Seung-hyun knows that voice.

The only people who were friendly to him and his family were a young doctor and his wife who even examined the child.

Baek Seung-hyun remained silent.

There’s nothing I can do.

There’s nothing he can do against a horde of marauders like Nodo.

The final crisis came when the looters came rushing in front of Dongtan Mom’s room.

“Open!”

“This is going to be a real pain. It’s a bulkhead closure. I’ll have to bring a welder.”

The looters tried to open the locked door.

Then a man appeared.

“There was nothing but a hanged corpse inside there?”

“Come to think of it, it smells like something’s rotting.”

The looters broke down the closed door of Baek Seung-hyun’s original cabin and entered.

“Oh, shit.”

“When did you fall behind?”

“You guys are really quick-tempered.”

The looters turned back after seeing the hanged body in the next room.

Baek Seung-hyun, who was preparing for battle with his eyes wide open and a pistol in one hand, finally let out a sigh.

That’s how my neighbors died.

Good neighbors and bad neighbors.

The story of Dongtan Mom is, as the catchphrase in the beginning suggests, a story about losing neighbors.

Fish thrown out of the water died quickly.

Some made their way to land, while others joined other ships and embarked on the desperate voyage to Korea.

The huge band of raiders quickly disintegrated, killing each other and plundering supplies.

The fight, which seemed like it would last forever, stopped when there were less than twenty people left on the ship.

As Baek Seung-hyun was about to kill the man he had just caught, his wife shouted from behind him.

“There aren’t many people left now. Can’t we just get along?”

Baek Seung-hyun stared at the man he was trying to kill.

A face that is tired, worn out, and doesn’t know what to do now.

He is a murderer, but at the same time, Baek Seung-hyun is also a murderer.

Baek Seung-hyun reached out to the man, thinking that he might have a similar face to him.

“Let’s stop. As my wife said, it seems like there isn’t much left.”

The man who had been blankly looking at Baek Seung-hyun nodded and grabbed his hand.

People who had lost their neighbors joined hands again.

To become a new neighbor to replace the lost neighbor.

-And this is again a story about making neighbors.

-hope.

-People who share the same dream of Korea.

Baek Seung-hyun’s story ends as the highlighted phrase passes by.

After the story ended, I let out a shallow sigh.

“······.”

Certainly, we cannot help but admit that Baek Seung-hyun has some talent.

VIVA_BOT014: What do you think? Is it better than Skeleton’s? Don’t you think so too?

SKELTON: Hmm······ Well, it’s not bad.

VIVA_BOT014: What else are you dissatisfied with?

SKELTON: Isn’t this melodrama?

VIVA_BOT014: I don’t think so.

SKELTON: Also, looking at the story, the implementation difficulty seems to be extremely high. How many characters are there? Are you saying that you have to create thousands of objects? This seems like it will cause considerable technical difficulties.

VIVA_BOT014: I think that’s something you don’t have to worry about, Skeleton;;

SKELTON: I don’t get it.

VIVA_BOT014: No, what if Mr. Skeleton doesn’t agree?

SKELTON: I will boycott it.

VIVA_BOT014: Can I block you for 72 hours?

SKELTON: (Skeleton notice)

VIVA_BOT014: There is another story.

SKELTON: Not very interesting.

VIVA_BOT014: The title is Skeleton?

SKELTON: ?

In the midst of the doubt, Vivabot brought out another story.

– This is the story of our slightly strange, but kind and wonderful neighbor.

Another neighbor’s story unfolded before me.

The narrator of that story was a girl I knew very well.

*

Because China’s attack was faster and more extensive than expected, the US military deployed in the country was not able to respond 100% perfectly.

In particular, Taiwan, which had been China’s main justification for war, collapsed faster than expected, leaving a gap in power deployment and inevitably causing confusion in personnel deployment.

In the process, a significant number of soldiers who should have withdrawn to the United States were left behind in Korea.

Mother and daughter Rebecca were among them.

I was advised to withdraw to the assembly point, Daegu Military Aviation, so-called K2, but during the confusion, I lost contact with my husband in Osan, so I looked around the places I thought I would to find him myself, but in vain, my husband was nowhere to be found.

When I returned to the base in despair, everyone had already withdrawn.

In dire straits, Rebecca stuffed everything she could into a military Humvee.

It is also true that the vicious shouts and glares of the protesters who had painted red in front of the base before the war did not go away as I packed my bags.

So she took more ammunition and weapons than medicine.

As she headed to the US military base, she had an anxious look on her face the whole time and muttered something unintelligible.

Her daughter, Suu, watched the whole thing from the side.

On her way to the base, she was shot several times.

I didn’t know who shot it or where it came from.

Maybe they are Chinese soldiers, or maybe they are spies working under orders from the Chinese military.

Maybe he’s a Korean who hates American soldiers.

Rebecca arrived at the US military base, constantly reproducing countless fears and doubts.

The base has already been hit by a nuclear attack.

The remaining radiation wouldn’t be significant since the time had passed, but Rebecca decided to look around just to be sure.

That’s why we headed to the low hill, the only high ground around.

It was then that Rebecca met Skelton for the first time.

When I first met him, he was a cold-blooded man with a cold gaze, an emotionless voice, and the look of someone ready to commit any act.

Suu appeared in front of Rebecca, who was on the verge of death, and Skeleton, who had her captured.

“I think he was surprised when he saw me. He didn’t show it, but I could feel it.”

The cold-blooded man just sent the mother and daughter away.

Life after that was a series of struggles.

In a place he had never been before and never knew, he loaded a Humvee with a ton of ammunition and weapons onto an abandoned building and opened fire on anyone who approached.

It was the only struggle that Rebecca and her daughter, who did not know the language and were only afraid of the unfamiliar situation, could do.

The number of shots fired per day ranged from as few as one to as many as five.

There was a standard.

One warning, one ultimatum, and then a live fire.

Even the most reckless people would turn and run away if two or more people died in succession.

But it is a separate matter for a person to endure in a life stained by such struggles.

Eventually, Rebecca’s body became sick.

There is no medicine.

If things continue like this, everyone will die.

Rebecca said that she would feel better when she woke up, but Sue didn’t think so.

Suu thought of a man.

The mysterious man Skeleton, who seemed cold-blooded and actually acted like one, but who actually gave the mother and daughter a chance.

As Rebecca passed out, Swoo remembered where Skeleton had been and walked down the dark path alone.

I don’t know how many times I fell and how many times I stopped walking in fear.

But, recalling the face of his dying mother, Swu managed to reach Skeleton’s realm and asked him for help.

The anticipation was rewarded.

“He gave us everything. I don’t know his name, but he said he was Skelton, and we call him Skelton. He is our neighbor who we met in a world that was going to end.”

The story reaches its climax when the skeleton alone slays the monster.

Skeleton went into the forest controlled by monsters alone, fighting against powerful monsters that even the military would fear, and leisurely defeated the monsters and returned.

The sight was that of a hero himself.

Until their separation, Skelton was a steadfast supporter of Rebecca and the Sue family, and he cared for them until the very end.

In a true sense, he was more than just a neighbor.

“Thanks Skeleton!”

When I read the last sentence with my eyes, I felt an unknown resonance in my chest.

A quieter, more peaceful silence fell on the previously quiet bunker.

“······Thank you.”

It’s not just Swooman who should be thanked.

I was able to come this far thanks to that mother and daughter.

At least it is an indisputable fact that I was greatly moved by Suu’s story.

VIVA_BOT014: Is this Skeleton?

It seems that he only noticed Vivabot’s question a long time later.

VIVA_BOT014: Mr. Skeleton?

SKELTON: Oh, sorry. I just needed to gather my thoughts for a moment.

VIVA_BOT014: From what I’ve seen, it doesn’t seem like it was Skeleton’s own novel.

SKELTON: Yes?!

VIVA_BOT014: The senders are clearly different and it seems like there won’t be much communication between the two.

SKELTON: A self-written novel?! I know my image isn’t very good, but this Skeleton, he didn’t fall that low.

VIVA_BOT014: I’ll believe you this time. After reading the content of the post that Cookie Monster wrote, it doesn’t seem like there are any lies.

SKELTON: Is there a sequel?

VIVA_BOT014: Yes. Would you like to take a look?

The second half of Sue’s Neighbor story is about another “stupid neighbor”, not Skelton.

So, Suu returns to the US military base and the people he meets there.

“hmm······.”

It is true that Suu is Rebecca’s daughter.

-Fucking American!

-There are so many idiots!

-Why is it that a country with so many stupid people leads the world?

-I Hate USA

-Fixed with screws

Just as Rebecca once revealed an unmistakable hatred for Koreans, Suh was revealing a clear-cut hatred for his homeland.

SKELTON: What is screw fixing?

VIVA_BOT014: I think the automatic translation of Screw you, which means eat shit, is wrong.

SKELTON: I see······.

VIVA_BOT014: First of all, I decided to only cover the first half of Cookie Monster’s neighbor story. That’s because it’s a bit more dramatic and has a story that people like. In today’s world, isn’t such a good neighbor a fantasy in some sense?

Anyway, my claim surrounding the Movie! Apocalypse! submission was resolved in a somewhat unexpected way.

But isn’t a good thing a good thing?

Even though I didn’t write it, the touching story featuring this skeleton will unfold in front of Vivarians all over the world.

*

Movie! Apocalypse! Same day.

Two stories were aired.

The first one to air was Dongtan Mom’s story.

Although the traces of being crude and not well organized are still evident, Dongtan Mom’s story does not deviate much from the story he wrote himself, and vividly tells us the story of abandoned people thrown into China.

After the 20-minute talk, we once again thanked heaven for how blessed we are to live in such a blessed environment.

The second story is my story.

however.

-“My neighbor.”

The title has changed.

It’s not just the title.

The character referred to as “Skeleton” in the scenario was for some reason changed to the ambiguous name “S.”

“uh?”

In shock and wonder, I looked at the story of Rebecca and her daughter, whom I know very well, and myself.

The eyes of the character I played in the drama were strangely small and slanted to the side, which bothered me, but I didn’t really complain because he was handsome and came out looking good.

Anyway, the story unfolded in the same way as the scenario I saw.

It’s a touching story.

To the point where I don’t mind at all when a character in the work is portrayed as someone other than me.

In fact, the reaction in the comments section was even hotter than Dongtan Mom’s story.

coral8103 : No, is there such a person?

X’Ds_Grrrrr: I heard that the setting is Korea and that Koreans are nice people.

Anonymous13: What a nice guy, that neighbor.

LVRM: You must be a professional hunter to hunt monsters alone.

Anonymous100: An old school hunter is that strong? That doesn’t make sense.

Anonymous68: Only S-class can hunt dancer types alone. Looking at the skill of that man described in the work, if he wasn’t a dancer, he might have been able to defeat them through close combat.

sulfar88 : Awesome! S!

…

…

Frankly, it is unfortunate that Skeleton’s name is left out of Suu’s story, and it is something that needs to be pointed out.

But I decided not to pursue it.

Why do people like it so much?

And the best reward came back to me soon.

Message from COOKIEMONSTER123: (Me swoosh!) Are you seeing the skeleton?

A message from COOKIEMONSTER123: (Me swoosh!) This is a story for skeletons!

A message from COOKIEMONSTER123: (Me too!) I don’t know why the latter half with its social criticism was edited out!

“······.”

I replied to Suu with a happy smile.

SKELTON: (Skeleton thumbs up)

That’s it.

It doesn’t really matter whether the main character is a skeleton or an S.

At least one thing is certain: the story of me, Sue, and Rebecca continues, right?

With a heart full of emotions like those of Yeojin, I came out of the bunker and stared at the field where the sun was setting for a while.

Certainly, our daily lives left behind in the age of destruction are dull and insignificant.

But that’s all one story.

Regardless of whether it’s fun or not, or whether it’s touching or not.

Some stories may be comedies, some may be tragedies.

Again, our story is not over.

There are certainly many mountains to climb and all possibilities point to a bad ending, but I hope that the stories of all of us who remain will have a happy ending.

End

ⓒ Road Warrior#

(Main comments)

(Practical**) -Recommendation 102-

The second part of the content is touching, but the moment the name ‘Skeleton’ appears in the middle, it looks like nothing more than a carefully written aggro article.

It looks like it was edited by the administrator lol…

(Donggle**) -Recommendation81-

I think the Vivabot manager is going to have cognitive dissonance

Old School Legend, S-Class Hunter

The only one who has a captain’s armband and loves beatboxing

A dirty person who can’t tell a story and is jealous of others without thinking

A warm hero to the neighbors around you

No, how is this one person?

(antimatter**) -Recommendation79-

It really pisses me off that Skeleton doesn’t admit defeat and tries to criticize Dongtan Mom with a battle record that looks like it was written by a recorder…

(Specky**) -Recommendation 62-

In the beginning, when talking to Defender, Skeleton was too pessimistic.

Now I’m thinking about a happy ending

I really hope everyone gets a happy ending

(Some**) -Recommendation 46-

But if I do this, won’t it be discovered that the main character’s hideout is in a high-altitude area near the US military base? My status as an S-class hunter will also be identified.

(Aview**) -Recommendation 38-

Anyway, I got caught by the reporter

If it were me, I wouldn’t go into the hunter area where the dancer type alone can cut off the neck.

(Ei**) -Recommendation33-

Now I feel like the ending is slowly building up… ㅠㅠ

(Starry**) -Recommendation 27-

Suu is truly a ray of light.

If it was just called Skeleton, it would have been too specific in terms of the Skeleton’s location and status, so I think it was changed to S?

(Gubne**) -Recommendation 22-

Because of his history of election rigging, using Skeleton’s name would actually make you laugh.

(Hal**) -Recommendation 16-

I need a juicy gift!