Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 204



Only Krnovel

91. Breakdown (2)

The woman’s movements are strange.

Even though he is a soldier, his steps lack confidence and his expression is stern, revealing a clear sense of fear.

The way he looked back every so often was enough to arouse my suspicion.

It might be bait.

In these sudden standoff situations, throwing someone who is willing to die to get information about the other party is a common sight in China.

Even his unremarkable appearance gave me some semblance of plausibility.

Let’s ignore women.

Let’s say it’s another drone.

A drone is already hovering above.

They’re probably watching the factory to see if anyone is escaping.

The point is that the other party isn’t just a woman.

I stayed silently by the window on the third floor and waited for the woman to come.

As she entered the factory, a muttering sound was heard.

The language is not certain, but it seems closer to Korean than Chinese.

My thoughts became clearer as the woman came closer.

“No one. No one. Really.”

A frightened, dull, sobbing voice came up the stairs and into the spacious factory yard.

Squeak-

A woman can be heard coming up the stairs.

I quietly placed chairs and heavy objects in front of the door, which was the only entrance.

Step by step, without a sound.

Then he went back to the observation point and continued to observe the enemy’s hiding place through the reflected surface of the mirror.

Squeak-

The woman came up to the third floor.

The office on the third floor is a reception room and the president’s office.

Soon she knocked on the door.

“The door, the door is closed.”

She said again.

“No, it won’t open. There’s something blocking it. What? You don’t think that’s possible? It really won’t open. Come and see. What can I do? I can’t do it on my own.”

The woman’s voice becomes louder and more aggrieved, and she finally starts to cry.

I am being forced by someone.

I don’t know who it is, but I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.

“No. Look. Can you hear the opening sound? I’m really doing my best.”

I look into the mirror and hear a woman’s tearful voice.

Something sparkled.

“······Phew.”

After taking a deep breath, he held his breath and changed the gun’s controls to single shots.

Soon something appeared at the window.

He is a person.

A target has appeared, I don’t know if it’s a man or a woman.

I simulated the target’s location in my head, took cover, and aimed my gun exactly at the simulated spot.

For a split second, I feel someone’s body stiffening as I look through the window.

At the same time my gun fired.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Both shots hit the target.

The first bullet pierced his shoulder, and the second probably went through his neck or some other fatal area.

There were several subsequent gunfire, but it was a senseless attack.

I took down the barricade I had made and opened the door.

“Gyaaaaaaah!”

The face of a woman trying to force the door open was revealed.

Late 30s. Or maybe younger.

People who have suffered a lot tend to have more time engraved on their faces than those who haven’t.

It’s certain that he’s older than me.

With that thought in mind, he aimed his gun.

“Put your hands up.”

The woman did not come to her senses.

I shot her on the floor and brought her back to her senses.

Only then did she come to grips with reality and beg for her life.

“Hey, save me!”

Although he is wearing a Chinese military uniform, he is neither Chinese nor a soldier.

He is a civilian.

He pointed a gun at my head and asked calmly.

“I just killed one. How many more are there? Answer the question. I’ll give you ten seconds.”

He took a threatening pose, as if he might hit me with the buttocks.

Making the hierarchy clear and informing others that I can cause harm to them is an essential procedure in battlefield interrogation.

however.

“What?!”

The woman reacts unexpectedly.

“He’s dead?! What?! He’s dead?! That son of a bitch?!”

It’s joy.

I don’t know why, but the woman was delighted from the bottom of her heart.

“The fuck!

Her appearance, muttering while drunk on joy that she couldn’t control, was slightly different from that of a normal person.

“Come! This way!”

The woman guided me to where the sniper was.

“What a son of a bitch! He sold us out to the Chinese!”

From the woman’s ramblings, I learned that there were several civilians, including women, left in the industrial complex and that snipers had them under pressure.

“Krrrrrr······.”

When I arrived, the man was still alive.

The bullet passed through his vocal cords and lodged in his trachea.

The wound was fatal, but, horribly, the man was still holding on to his lifeline.

But I’ll die soon.

As I appeared, the man rolled his bloodshot eyes and looked at me, trying to say something.

But from the punctured vocal cords, blood just boiled like phlegm.

I looked around.

There are two women nursing, and three women standing awkwardly and watching this side.

The women were all in their 20s, unlike the women in Chinese military uniforms.

The age range was from early to late twenties, but they were all wearing heavy makeup and flowing clothes that were more revealing than practical.

The overall atmosphere was decadent, although that’s not a word that fits this world.

By combining the Chinese-made items hanging everywhere, Chinese signs, Chinese military equipment, and the testimony I heard from the woman earlier, I was able to easily figure out the identity of this suspicious factory.

He asked the woman in Chinese military uniform as she watched the dying man.

“What kind of place is this?”

As the woman mumbled her answer, a young woman who had been watching her said curtly with her arms folded.

“Can’t you tell if you look? Why are you asking if you already know?”

These guys are probably prostitutes.

Doing business with the Chinese military.

There is no other way to explain the survival of this group through two harsh winters and their seemingly unproductive past.

The man I killed was probably a pimp.

“We were caught by thugs.”

The name of the woman in the Chinese military uniform was Kim Mi-young.

Kim Mi-young apologized with a face that still showed fear and excitement, then took out something like a long pipe, put something in it, and lit it.

Only then did I see the back of the factory.

Beautiful, fleeting red flowers bloomed all over the place.

He asked, looking at the flowers.

“There are several people?”

“There were five people.”

A red light flickered at the end of the pipe.

Kim Mi-young glared into the air and snickered, emitting a foul-smelling smoke.

“At first, he acted like a good young man. But one day, he suddenly changed and started beastly behavior. There were other men in the group, and he showed his true colors by killing them first.”

A group that comes together by chance without any kinship, blood ties, or deep friendship is always likely to split.

The division rarely amounts to a simple tearing of the tissue.

Most of them are marked by violence, intimidation and murder, and the defeated group becomes subordinate to the victorious group.

It’s a common story in this world.

The only thing that is noteworthy is that they have a connection with the Chinese military, and the expressions on the faces of the other women who hear this are cold.

“That disgusting bitch.”

One woman even went so far as to express her discomfort out loud.

Kim Mi-young continued speaking without paying any attention.

“Those people sold the women to the Chinese. They forced them into prostitution for the Chinese soldiers who patrolled the area.”

“Do the Chinese military patrol around here?”

“Yes. They come often. They come often and give us things.”

She lifted the hem of the uniform she was wearing.

“Where are the rest? I heard there were five.”

“They’re all dead.”

The woman looked back toward the factory with a bitter smile.

“One died last winter, two died fighting among themselves, and one was beheaded after picking a fight with a Chinese person.”

“Your neck is cut?”

“I don’t know. He wasn’t even wearing a military uniform, but he had a big sword? What was it called? A sword? He used it to cut off that bastard’s head in one stroke.”

The moment I heard that, I thought of the strongest hunter group in China.

China has created its own criteria, refusing to be judged by international hunter standards.

The grades are distinguished by color, and to list them, there are five grades in total: white, green, blue, yellow, and red.

Among these, the highest rank, Hong (紅), is a rank equivalent to the S-rank of the world’s hunter standards, and is a rank that only five out of the thousands of Chinese hunters who emerge each month have achieved.

The Chinese respectfully called these five hunters the Five Dragon Gate.

I once heard that one of them used a unique but ineffective cold weapon that resembled the Blue Dragon Sword.

“······So the only person left is the person I killed?”

Maybe it was that guy who killed Gold’s mate and drove the pack away.

“Yes. He spoke Chinese the best and was the best at pleasing the Chinese military. He was also the best at fighting and shooting.”

Kim Mi-young stared at me.

The moment I saw that expression, I had a strong feeling that I was going to get into trouble.

“Please save us.”

*

Wheeeeeeeeing—

My heart, which had been transplanted with a young organ, a new part obtained from the industrial complex, seemed to be making up for its unwanted rest, and it was making a more powerful sound than before, spreading light and vitality throughout my area.

I went up to the first floor with a big smile on my face, watching the battery power quickly charging.

The once dark bunker was filled with light, and the air conditioner and heater were running simultaneously, mercilessly driving out the dampness that had been stuffy inside the bunker.

The operation was a success.

But I’m not sure if the operation was perfect.

The bottom line is that women remained in the factories.

“Where do you want to go from here?”

“What are you riding? Do you have a car?”

“What if the Chinese kids chase you while you’re walking? If you die, who will take responsibility?”

“Ah, he’s a fucking piece of shit, but he did a good job of cutting down those Chinese kids from being rude.”

“West? Where are those big dogs?”

“Can’t you just do it for me?”

The women refused to leave the factory.

There may be many reasons why this happened, but one thing is certain: those young women did not like Kim Mi-young.

“That’s what the lady said! Nothing good will come of going outside.”

“You started it, didn’t you? You were the one who said that if you sell your body to Chinese kids, you can save your life.”

“It was that lady who went to the Chinese military unit.”

“Why? Can’t you stand working as a pimp and then living as a housekeeper?”

“Where did you get that guy from? The new pillar?”

Kim Mi-young’s reputation seemed worse than that of the dying man.

Amidst the endless barrage of sharp criticism, Kim Mi-young lit a cigarette.

“You can’t even take care of yourself.”

One woman glared at him with contempt and spat, turning away as the others followed her.

“······.”

He turned around, leaving her frozen in space, billowing white smoke.

He followed the women as they left and grabbed one of them by the shoulder.

“What? Yes? What? Give me one?”

The woman, still agitated, reacted roughly.

He fired a gun into the air.

“Everyone, go into that room.”

A gunshot has the power to silence most people.

He watched the women enter the room one by one, locked the door, and asked the women.

“Chinese army. When are you coming? Tell me the truth. If you don’t tell me, I will set you on fire. If you show up at a different time than you said, I will set you on fire.”

I have no intention of setting fire or harming them, but my safety comes first.

After subduing the women, we searched the factory again.

Knowing there were no enemies, the pace naturally increased and I was soon able to find the part I wanted.

Before leaving, I passed by the red flower garden.

There is a person in the middle of the red flower garden.

This is Kim Mi-young.

She was standing blankly in the middle of a flower garden full of red flowers with her eyes half-closed.

He ignored her and released the women he had imprisoned.

Even when the lock was unlocked, they refused to come out of the room.

I ignored him and headed towards the room where the man was lying.

The man was dead with his eyes wide open.

I looked at his body with indifferent eyes and then moved my gaze away.

The drone control device is visible.

It’s a familiar device.

This is an integrated drone control device used by the Chinese military.

As expected from military equipment, it is resistant to jamming and highly reliable.

There are also rumors that the defect rate is quite high, but if this product is still in use, then it is not defective.

In addition to the parts, he took the control unit, along with the gun and ammunition he had with him.

The HUD screen on my controller still showed the drone hovering over the factory where I was.

I got a complete set of drones.

I went up to the rooftop and observed the Chinese garrison through a telescope.

Something has gotten bigger.

The number of barracks had increased compared to before, and something resembling a dock had been built along the coast.

There was a black object floating on the sea.

It’s a nuclear submarine.

The one that rained death upon Korea time and time again.

For some reason, the side of the nuclear submarine had marks and dents that looked like something huge had scratched it with its claws.

“······.”

no way.

No, I don’t think so.

There are no mutations in the sea.

No, I can’t say for sure that there aren’t any.

Before leaving, I visited the flower garden again.

I plan to take Kim Mi-young with me.

Because she no longer seems welcome here.

I’m not going to take responsibility for her life, but if I take her to Incheon or Seoul, I might be able to give her a second chance at life.

Kim Mi-young was still standing like a ghost in the middle of the garden with a dazed face.

“excuse me.”

I called Kim Mi-young.

But Kim Mi-young didn’t respond to my call at all.

“Let’s go together. I’ll take you to Seoul.”

Although her life was distorted by the war, by my childhood standards she was probably a girl who wore a school uniform and dreamed of the future.

So, what I’m saying is that she’s my older sister.

“You don’t seem to know much about the outside world, but the Legion faction has taken power and is now in a stable state. They’re providing food, housing, and even jobs, so even if it’s not comfortable, you should be able to live comfortably.”

But she looked back at me fiercely.

“······Can’t you take me with you?”

“yes?”

“I don’t like being alone. I don’t have the courage to go anywhere else. So, can you take me with you and live with me?”

“All I can do is get you to a safe area.”

“Don’t be like that. You’re not alone, are you? Okay? I can do whatever you want. Okay?”

“No.”

I pushed him away hard as he rushed towards me and spoke clearly.

“why?”

She asked.

The moment I saw that evil-possessed face, I decided that it was no longer necessary to continue the conversation.

I ignored him and turned away.

Suddenly, a red flower that had been blurring my vision came into view.

I walked towards my motorcycle, picking flowers without thinking much about it.

A pitiful, helpless laugh erupted from behind.

Wheeeeeeeeing—

I retrieved the drone and started the motorcycle.

The Chinese army has not come and has no sign of coming.

I neatly organized my loot into boxes and headed toward my territory.

I took a last look back at the industrial complex spread out under the cloudless blue sky.

A thought suddenly occurred to me.

It’s not just my generator that’s broken.

The human mind also often breaks down.

It’s not just the story of those left behind.

Maybe some corner of our hearts was broken before.

*

I wrote the following on Palenet.

I could have written it on our bulletin board, but I was worried that Chinese people might see my post, so I wrote it on Palenet, which offers greater anonymity.

Maybe it’s because I have a negative view of Fox Games and I don’t like the atmosphere of the bulletin boards that support him.

The response was low, perhaps because I didn’t write down my named nickname.

9 views. No comments.

First of all, the overall number of views is low.

Even if a lot of people died, how can the average number of views on a bulletin board that used to get over 100 drop to around 10?

After posting the same article on the “Ssul Bulletin Board” about five times, I finally received a single comment.

An anonymous user made a suggestion to me.

ㅇㅇ: Hey, how about posting that article on Blind instead of here?

Yeah (not skeleton): Blinders?

ㅇㅇ: This is a new anonymous site created by the general.

ㅇㅇ (not skeleton): Are there a lot of people there?

Yeah : Yeah

ㅇㅇ: The rising sun.