Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 212



Only Krnovel

93. The Man from Jeju (5)

Squeak-

The door opened.

No firearms were fired.

He held two axes in his hands.

I heard many footsteps behind me, and soon I felt many eyes following me.

In small, closed facilities, rumors spread quickly.

There are no secrets in this concrete facility that lacks fun.

It’s like the muttering in an empty room in the middle of winter that spreads clearly to every corner.

The audience isn’t just behind the bars at the back.

On top of the 15-story high hexagonal wall, children in neat uniforms stood side by side, looking down, seemingly oblivious to the fear of falling.

I felt like I had to hurry.

He took hold of the axe and walked away.

“stop!!!!!!”

A loudspeaker sound was heard.

This is Jeong Ho-gyeong.

Whyeeeeeeeeee—-

He tried to stop me, even honking his siren.

A slow advance turned into a quick walk, and a quick walk turned into a trot.

The monster noticed me.

It was as if it was dead, and it turned its rounded body towards me, pointing the protrusion that seemed to be its head at me.

Soon it raised its body.

A dense, grayish-white mass, like a giant pot lid lifted up, blocks my entire view.

Hunters of the past would shoot in fear at the mere sight of this, and die after being hit by the bullets they fired.

The existence of the reflective field was later revealed after dozens of people were killed.

I have no intention of denying the hunters of that era.

Because of the experiences and records they left behind, we were able to face the monsters better prepared.

“Go back!!!!”

In that respect, I am different from Jeong Ho-gyeong, who denies the past.

“······.”

I sprint at full speed and aim for the giant black body that appears backlit and obscures my vision.

The bastard threatens to drop his body and crush me at any moment, but my legs don’t stop.

The massive body of the monster that had been flashing began to fall.

It goes down like a bug being swatted away with a heavy book.

“Gyaaaaaaah!!!”

A scream is heard.

From behind and from above.

I felt the pitch-black darkness covering me and flew to the side.

thud!

The monster’s body hit the ground with a shock so strong it shook the earth’s axis.

The monster tries to rise again amidst a thick cloud of dust.

but.

Bam!

I’m already on top of that guy.

My axe did not rest while the bastard’s slope continued toward the right angle.

Bam!

Bam!

Snap!

The work is closer to logging than hunting.

As the slope gradually increased and my body began to slide due to gravity, a change occurred.

The monster’s movements stopped.

At the same time, some of the flesh cut off by the axe is seen turning into light.

He lightly turned the two axes, placed them in the axe sheath mounted on his harness, and rode the collapsing monster’s body to land on the ground.

thud!

Once again, the monster’s body fell to the ground, and its body soon began to reduce into particles of light.

I turned around and looked back.

A quiet silence greeted me, and soon unspoiled cheers greeted me.

“Wow!!”

“Did you see it?!”

“Waaa …

Amidst the heated echoes echoing off the hexagonal walls, I quietly looked up at the man on the wall standing next to the children.

“······.”

The man, Jeong Ho-gyeong, looked down at me without saying a word, then turned around with the loudspeaker in his hand and disappeared into the blind spot of my vision.

“Mr. Park!”

Hong Jong-beom opened the bars and ran out with his children.

“Just what. I have nothing to say. Was it this strong?”

“······Let’s just get rid of the body.”

I stared at the corpse of a cow, bloated like a balloon, lying overturned in one of the pastures.

“Bring me a cart and a hose.”

“Just a moment.”

Hong Jong-beom walked towards the monster’s corpse, which was dispersing into particles of light as if it was burning.

“?”

That’s not all.

Other boys and girls followed Hong Jong-beom and walked towards the monster, bowing their heads and putting their hands together or praying in silence.

“What are you doing?”

Hong Jong-beom answered.

“Prayer.”

“Are you praying to a monster?”

Our Jongbeom.

Surely you’re not a fanatic?

“no.”

thank god.

“Then who are you praying to?”

“Friend.”

Hong Jong-beom smiled sadly.

“friend?”

“Yes. If the child here disappears······.”

He gazed at the scattering particles of light with sad eyes, stroking the head of the boy who looked to be in his early middle school years, who was praying earnestly next to him.

“······Monsters appear in places where they disappeared.”

*

The confrontation between Jeong Ho-gyeong and me may have been expected from the beginning.

He pretended not to know my call sign, but in reality he was so conscious of my name that he almost had a nervous breakdown.

So, they treated me unfairly and tried to make me look like a nobody.

It was other adults at the lighthouse who had disappeared who told me that fact.

“As expected, an old school hunter is a real hunter. It’s thrilling to see him again after such a long time.”

“Commissioner Jeong. He goes around saying that he’s a Level 8 Awaken, but not a single person has seen him cause a stir.”

“That guy. He was muttering “Professor, Professor” and loitering around like he was drenched in rain before you even came. He probably hated being looked down on by you more than dying.”

They were all from Jeju Island, and they hated Jeong Ho-gyeong even more than I did, taking on miscellaneous tasks like base security, medical care, and feeding.

He asked why I followed a person I hated so much.

“I followed Jeong Ho-gyeong because I thought I would naturally be successful under him.”

“Jeong Ho-gyeong always had a steady rise. He was appointed to a civil service position at the age of just 22, with the treatment of a secretary. He’s a 4th grader. 4th grader. It’s not even a special position. The civil service examination that you have to study like crazy is a 5th grader.”

“People can’t always be lucky, but if you look closely, we overinvested.”

“What you fixed is a bit much. If you keep being uncomfortable, Jeong Ho-gyeong will give up and go to Jeju Island.”

The only wish of these adults left at the lighthouse is to return to Jeju Island where they came from.

I left the adults behind and headed to Jeong Ho-gyeong’s room.

His room was still cramped, stuffy, and filled with body odor.

Jeong Ho-gyeong was sitting in front of a small desk, wearing only a sleeveless running shirt and dripping with sweat.

“Mr. Park Gyu.”

He held something out to me.

It’s a report.

“This is the history of the activities I have done here at Gaeseong Lighthouse so far. If you look at this, you will also be able to see how we lured the monsters.”

Is this your last bit of pride?

He never mentioned what had happened in the pasture.

Instead, he made one request of me.

“A helicopter will arrive from the headquarters shortly.”

“is it so?”

“Please take it and leave here. This is not a request, but an order as the person in charge of Gaeseong Lighthouse.”

“Let me ask you one thing.”

I stared quietly into Jeong Ho-gyeong’s eyes.

When our eyes met, I saw his body tremble slightly.

“The kids say that strange things are happening.”

“What’s going on?”

“Monsters appear where children disappear.”

Jeong Ho-gyeong heard that and smiled with an expression of understanding.

“You don’t believe that nonsense about people turning into monsters, do you?”

“Of course I don’t believe it.”

“······It is true that children are disappearing.”

Jeong Ho-gyeong sighed and scratched his head nervously with a pained expression.

“The mental abnormalities caused by erosion zones also occur in children. As you know, when a person is exposed to erosion zones for a long time, it is not uncommon for them to have problems with reasoning as if they have dementia and suddenly disappear.”

“It looks like something like that happened here too.”

“How can children endure a place that is difficult even for adults? But it is true that we are trying our best to manage it.”

Jeong Ho-gyeong stood up from his seat and bowed to me.

“Anyway, thanks for reclaiming the pasture.”

It wasn’t as much of a bow as the 90-degree greeting he gave me the first time, and he only nodded slightly, but at least I felt a sincerity that was incomparable to the last thank you.

*

– Even cows need to take care of themselves~

Just because you found a pasture doesn’t mean you can drink milk right away.

She’s so skinny that her ribs are showing, so there’s no way she can produce milk.

But even that month-long wait was an absolute joy to the children of this abandoned building with nothing to show for it.

“In a month, I will finally be able to drink fresh cow’s milk.”

“It’s milk. What do you mean by cow’s milk? Do you still believe in Juche ideology?”

“I like cow’s milk. If you like South Korea that much, then go to South Korea.”

“I have to send it to you.”

Even though all that was served for dinner today was wheat flour rice cakes, the atmosphere in the restaurant was full of anticipation.

The biggest change is the children’s attitude toward me.

“What on earth did you do to be so good at fighting?”

“Were you at the Pangari Fighting Ground?”

“That’s really cool! What was it? Was it the old-school hunter that they taught at that school? The old-boy hunter?”

Even though he only caught one monster, he is treated like a hero from a children’s show.

“I was active during my active years. I did a little bit of it, but there was a great man called Skeleton······.”

After talking to them for a while and leaving the hallway, I saw some kids I hadn’t seen before.

They were South Korean children wearing neat uniforms.

These young guys looked like they had something to show me.

But this precious body already has a manager.

“Oh, my. Why did you Moran-dong Ganna come to see our teacher Park? Wasn’t that Jeong Ganna your teacher?”

At first, Hong Jong-beom, who had been promoted from assistant to manager, spoke informally to me, but now he was standing next to me and provoking the Moran-dong children.

Well, I don’t like kids, but I’m a person who is thorough in fan service, so I gently promised the Moran-dong kids who came all the way here tomorrow.

“If you have time tomorrow at lunchtime, come to the pasture. I have work to do.”

“yes!”

The Moran-dong children returned home smiling brightly.

Then Hong Jong-beom immediately grumbles.

“Mr. Park. Where is this happening? When you were ignored by Mr. Jeong Ganna, we carried you on our backs and helped you out!”

To be honest, Hong Jong-beom is not handsome.

Although he is young, he has a tall stature like a pole, prominent cheekbones, and a scholarly appearance, giving off an air of confidence that is hard to believe is that of a boy.

He’s an old man compared to the cute and smart guy who just disappeared.

Still, I admit that Hong Jong-beom is Park Gyu’s number one follower.

“I’ll give you this.”

I took out a bullet from the belongings I had brought and handed it to him.

5.56mm. This is the so-called NATO bullet.

It’s just a simple bullet, but I wrote my call sign on it with a marker pen.

This alone makes this bullet special.

“Professor. That was my call sign when I was on active duty.”

Hong Jong-beom, who is 183cm tall, almost as tall as me, smiled brightly like a ten-year-old child upon receiving the crude gift.

“Thank you, Mr. Park. No, Professor!”

I sent off Hong Jong-beom and read the activity log provided to Jeong Ho-gyeong.

On a quiet night, relying on the light from the stand, I nodded my head repeatedly while savoring the records of this lighthouse with my eyes.

“······hmm.”

It seemed quite plausible and actually effective.

From last fall until now, the Kaesong Lighthouse has been holding back a monster that could have entered the metropolitan area for a whole year.

However, there is no denying that the fate of this lighthouse is bleak.

The problem is connected with the fate of humans being unable to hold in their hands a flame that burns forever.

*

“omg!”

I woke up in bed in a cold sweat.

“······.”

It’s internet withdrawal.

I haven’t been able to do it for almost a week.

Now, Kim Da-ram’s anger and memories will have disappeared, and it is a good time for him to quietly return and resume his activities.

First of all, there are too many full “story” stories.

It’s time to serialize the full-fledged and high-quality flagship content “Skeleton’s Story Series” on the authentic Viva! Apocalypse!, not on a trash site like Blinder.

“When are you coming? Oh, in three days? Can’t you come a little sooner? No, I’ve been in this area for so long that I’m starting to feel a little dizzy… Ugh. Even now, I’m feeling a little dizzy….”

I contacted Lightning on the K-Walkie-Talkie, protested to get me out of here quickly, and went to the restaurant.

Looking at the menu makes my appetite disappear.

I quietly turned around and went into my room, where I took out the US military combat rations that I had hidden in my backpack.

A gift from Rebecca and Sue.

To be honest, I can’t say it’s delicious, but it’s incomparable to undercooked wheat flour rice cakes.

I was quietly turning my back, opening the package, putting the contents into a lunch box, and eating the stew inside, which looked like beef, with a spoon.

dripping-

Someone is knocking.

“?!”

What should I do with this?

Should I answer?

The reason I hesitate is because I feel that although I am free to eat combat rations, I should not let others see me eating these combat rations alone.

dripping-

Another knock.

Let’s say something.

“ah-”

But before I could finish speaking, the door opened.

“Mr. Park Gyu?!”

This is Jeong Ho-gyeong’s voice.

“······.”

He turned his back and did not move or answer.

In the uncomfortable silence, Jeong Ho-gyeong’s nose sniffed.

“Uh, um······. It’s nothing else. It’s a monster alert. There’s a forecast that a monster is about to erupt from Paju. When the eruption starts, we’ll turn on the lighthouse lights.”

“······.”

“I wanted to tell you about the scene you wanted to see······.”

Jeong Ho-gyeong left his seat.

Judging from the way he quietly closes the door, it is clear that he is someone who has the acumen to rise to a high position in South Korea.

I quickly emptied what was left and went out to the pasture.

In the pasture, children from South Korea and North Korea were waiting for me, each keeping their distance.

He approached the children and asked them.

“You said you were lighting a lighthouse?”

“yes!”

The children answered.

“Maybe tomorrow? I think it’ll start the afternoon of the day after tomorrow at the latest.”

“okay?”

You’re lucky.

I can go home after seeing this Gaeseong lighthouse lighting up.

Not only does it satisfy my curiosity, but it also gives Skeleton’s “story” greater life.

But there’s one small problem.

My number one follower, Hong Jong-beom, is nowhere to be seen.