Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 221



Only Krnovel

95. Signs (3)

“Where are you going? Is rehearsal over?”

Judging by his bright expression, the Defender seemed to be unaware of what was happening ahead.

“It’s not over yet, but I have work to do. I have to go home.”

“Since I came all the way here, I should go see my little brother.”

“Brother, are you here?”

“Yeah. I’m at the hospital.”

“Are you feeling unwell?”

“Rather than saying I’m not feeling well, I just have a rather annoying illness.”

“What kind of illness is it?”

“A tumor. Not cancerous. Just on the verge of becoming cancerous?”

“Oh, like that.”

Is that why you turned to the Legion faction?

I didn’t think a guy like Defender would be the type to easily fall under someone else’s control, but now I understand.

“It’s nothing serious. Thanks to Jongcheol, we were able to find it early and treat it quickly. Now, it actually feels like the treatment is complete.”

“Even dog poop has its moments.”

“That guy. He’s a bit weird, but there’s nothing wrong with knowing him.”

The defender offered me another suggestion.

“Dajeong wants to see you. What do you think? Should we go now?”

What should I say?

After some thought, I told the Defender the truth.

“What? Monsters…? A large group is coming here?”

As expected, it was a face I was seeing for the first time.

“While we’re on the subject, let’s run away together. I’ll help you clean out your bunker.”

The Defender showed hesitation at my suggestion.

“That’s right.”

He sighed and looked up at the sky.

“There is still one more treatment left.”

“When will that treatment be available?”

“Two days later.”

“Memorial Day?”

“huh.”

“I have to accept it, right?”

“Oh. But it’s chemotherapy. I can’t get it anywhere else. If I’m going to get treatment, I have to make sure it’s done properly.”

What should I do?

The easiest way is to ignore everything and just run straight into my territory.

But I know better than anyone that that can no longer be the case.

I will not betray my faith and trust to save myself when my people are in danger.

“······Then let’s do it like this.”

I told the Defender my plan.

“That might be a bit of a burden. Not to mention being completely at odds with the Legion.”

“But if a large horde of monsters invades the city, only a few people will be able to survive.”

The moment a medium-sized monster takes over a city and attacks with mass casualties as if breathing, most humans die.

Some might ask if you can just escape when the city is occupied, but escaping a city in a state of chaos is not as easy as it sounds.

If you try to get there by car, at least a few dozen people will be swarming you, and even if you walk, you never know when you might be murdered by a fellow human who has turned into an opportunistic predator.

The best way is to run away quickly while the threat is not yet fully realized.

But now that that is impossible, there is no answer other than a half-beat quick escape.

“Get me a car. It doesn’t matter what the condition is. If I can get to Seoul within 100km in 2 hours, that’s enough.”

“······I guess there’s nothing I can do.”

Defender doesn’t 100% agree with my plan, but he’s also a Hunter who’s been in China.

You’ve probably seen cities overrun by monsters time and time again.

After reaching some kind of agreement, I decided to go into hiding in the city.

*

Before and after the war, the subway was an important facility.

The subway is a very good large-scale bunker.

It is not good for defense against humans because there are many entrances, but against low-intelligence enemies like zombies, you can build a defense zone similar to a kill zone by blocking the entrances with barricades.

The Gaebong Station where I had decided to hide was already occupied by a group of refugees.

A flag was waving at the entrance, made by tearing down political banners that had been rolling around before the war and erasing all the politicians and their childish slogans.

Underneath the flag, people holding guns were glaring at us with murderous faces.

“Who is it? I’ve never seen that face before.”

The phrase “Third Shelter” certainly does not appear to be a decorative phrase.

The sunken-faced young man who mans the gate seems to remember most of the people in their shelter.

“I have nowhere to go, but can I stay for a couple of days?”

“We only accept people from the same shelter.”

A woman wearing a gas mask covering her entire face spoke coldly.

The weapon in her hand was the Judge Killer, and she was carrying an extra Judge Killer on her back.

“How rude. I’m from Incheon too.”

“How many shelters?”

The man asked.

“······Hunter Street.”

It’s not a lie.

Even though he ran away in one day, it is clear that he found a house there.

“Hunter?”

The man asked.

He nodded.

The golden fleece on my collar has now been removed.

Not only is it difficult to meet someone who recognizes me for that, but the world today is one in which there are far more potential criminals who kill people for their valuables than before the war.

“If you’re a hunter, you’re not a fanatic, right?”

The man asked with a sneer.

He nodded.

He picked up a can rolling on the floor and placed it in the palm of his hand.

“Then, take this can once······.”

bang!

Before anyone could react, a hole was punched in the center of the can.

If you can’t make a hole in the center of a can within 1 second from 8 meters away, you’re disqualified as a hunter.

I felt the stiffness in people for a moment, but I didn’t care.

The man smiled immediately.

“It looks like it’s really a waste.”

“Can I come in?”

“It’s not over yet. I still have an interview left.”

“Interview?”

“Oh. There’s another hunter inside.”

Men with guns stood beside and behind me.

The guide was a small woman wearing a gas mask.

The dull friction of the mask distorts the roundness of his voice, but he doesn’t seem that old.

They led me down an endless dark staircase into an open waiting room.

The stench of the unbearable living conditions, with tents, plastic, and cardboard boxes everywhere, filled my nostrils.

They led me to the old staff room.

In the staff room, a man was sitting on a chair with his back turned and his neck tilted back, half asleep.

“Agrippa.”

When the woman called the man, he motioned with his head tilted back.

Sign language.

As far as I understand, it’s a situation report.

The woman answered.

“I brought someone who claims to be a hunter.”

The man moved only his hands again.

From what I understand, it’s numbers and order.

Although it was somewhat ambiguous, the woman wearing the gas mask seemed to be in sync with this friend a lot, as she easily interpreted his sign language.

“Ask the rider?”

She looked at me and asked.

“13th generation.”

“13th generation?”

Only then did the man open his mouth.

But this voice sounds familiar.

As expected, the man turned his chair to reveal his face, and I immediately recognized his identity.

“Cheon Yeong-jae?”

This is my junior, Cheon Young-jae.

The rascal on Hunter Street.

Let’s not think too deeply about why this guy is here.

In a world where standards and everything else are collapsing, humans are just like seaweed, pushed and pushed.

“Everyone get out.”

Cheon Yeong-jae sent everyone out.

Although people questioned his judgment, Cheon Yeong-jae’s influence over them was considerable.

No one raised an objection and everyone followed his orders.

As the people disappeared, Cheon Yeong-jae smiled his characteristically mischievous smile.

“No, Senior Park. What’s going on here? Are you finally thinking of hiring me?”

“What are you talking about?”

“······You have to come twice more. If you want to take a dragon like me.”

Aside from the sunken cheeks, he’s still a colorful friend.

It’s one of the hunter’s strengths.

It means that people can always be optimistic.

We know from experience that people who are not like that end up suffering from hysterical mental illness like Kim Da-ram.

“I’m only planning to stay here for two days.”

Since there would be only two of them anyway, I lowered my voice and told Cheon Yeong-jae what was happening.

Including the lighthouse, of course.

“I’ve heard talk of creating a separate institution to house the unfit for combat Awakening, but I never imagined it would be used in that way.”

Cheon Yeong-jae had been on the battlefield for a long time and was a friend who knew the internal affairs of the National Assembly well, so he quickly understood the situation.

“We should run away too. Don’t you think so, Senior Park?”

“But if the entire shelter suddenly moves, the Legion faction won’t stay still.”

“That’s true too.”

There was no particular change in Cheon Yeong-jae’s appearance other than losing a little weight.

I asked you because I was proud to see you living a smooth life despite all the hardships you must have had.

“How did it end up here?”

“When Woo Min-hee abandoned us, everyone stayed in Hunter Street. But when a fanatic warlord took power and Kim Da-ram, who didn’t like the sight of it, tried to be the leader, who could stand it? They scattered.”

“The fanatic problem seems to be quite serious.”

I know that.

What problems they cause in the world at large.

I have no animosity towards the Chinese Hunter for displaying pure hostility.

They are a cancer of humanity, worth dying for.

“······I can tolerate them spouting off crazy stuff and preaching, but those bastards kidnap women and children.”

“It seems like you even do that.”

“Our shelter also had a few people kidnapped. The shelter men and I caught them in the act. Well, you can imagine. It’s not really something worth mentioning. It’s a kind of human sacrifice.”

Although Cheon Yeong-jae was always easygoing, his face became cold and scary when he talked about the fanatics’ atrocities.

“It seems that Kim Byung-chul has also recognized their problems, but the Manryugui religion is already too deeply embedded in the military faction. There are even rumors going around that several high-ranking officers have been recruited. They need surgery to survive, but it means that they have to undergo surgery that could cost them their lives.”

“It’s not easy.”

“I was thinking about escaping, but thanks to Senior Park, the schedule has been brought forward. I’ll talk to the captain of the shelter. Make yourself comfortable. It won’t be as comfortable as your bunker, though.”

Cheon Yeong-jae smiled broadly and handed me something.

It’s a sleeping bag.

“Do you need it?”

Seeing that smile, I was able to feel the strong sense of camaraderie at our school for the first time in a long time.

Inside the subway station that has been turned into a shelter, there is no space that can be called a room except for a few limited spaces.

People each pitched tents in places that were less cold or hot and had less smell, and built walls out of cardboard to divide their living areas.

I didn’t bring a tent or anything because I was traveling light, but since I had a sleeping bag that I got from Cheon Yeong-jae, I laid it out in a corner and lay down to rest for a while.

“······.”

It was a short time, but a lot happened.

But I won’t think deeply about it.

A day passed in an unfamiliar place.

*

“Tomorrow, there will be a historic signing ceremony to end the Sino-Korean War. The Chinese government deeply regrets the sins they have committed against both countries and the world over the past three years and six months, and has proposed unconditional surrender and the transfer of ownership of the Manchurian region to the Korean government. In response, Chief of the Joint Headquarters Kim Byeong-cheol has not made clear his intentions, but from what I’ve heard, I wonder if our people will be able to reclaim the land in Manchuria that they lost after Balhae.”

The radio broadcasts of the Legion Faction played a big role in alleviating my ill feelings toward the warlord group known as the Legion Faction.

In particular, I was attracted to the neat and dignified voice of the female host who took on the main narration.

The same voice was coming from someone else’s radio, not mine.

The people listening to this broadcast were all different.

Some people laughed while others were happy to flatten the noses of the Chinese.

The news of gaining Manchuria in particular appealed greatly to older people.

The identity of the person who hosted the radio show I’m curious about.

Rather than feeling fond of it, I just wanted to see it once.

I wonder what kind of person would do a broadcast like that.

It was while I was lost in my imagination for a moment that I was killing the familiar enemy called time.

Boom!

A loud noise was heard.

be near.

The shell appears to have passed right over the subway station.

Whyeeeeeeeeeeeeee—

A siren wailed throughout history.

Accustomed to such things, the women and children, far from panicking, calmly packed their bags and headed toward the innermost part of the station, more so than I did.

Men and women who could fight ran toward the entrance to the subway with guns drawn.

While following the people, I ran into Cheon Yeong-jae.

“What’s going on?”

“Checking.”

We hid in the kill zone behind Exits 1-3, the only exits open to the shelter, and waited for news from outside.

In this situation, the most reliable means is radio.

however.

“If we can regain control of Manchuria, it will be a great opportunity for our people to make a second leap forward along with the recovery of North Korea. Not only is there a large amount of natural resources in Manchuria, but there is also natural gas in Bohai Bay that has considerable economic potential······.”

The radio isn’t much help.

A man ordered a man who had turned on the radio to turn it off.

Actually, in the current situation, radio is of no help.

The sound of gunfire was heard from afar.

It seems to have nothing to do with us.

Soon the people who had gone out to scout out the subway came back.

They are the five gatekeepers I saw before.

“It looks like the military is rounding up fanatics.”

The man who had returned from reconnaissance took off his mask and sat down on the stairs with a tired expression.

“I don’t know why, but it’s extremely scary. I recommend that no one go outside.”

As soon as the man finished speaking, someone standing in the kill zone shouted.

“Someone turn on the radio.”

“Are you talking nonsense?”

“Try turning it back on.”

People turned the radio back on.

But the radio didn’t give a single line explaining the situation.

The day passed in gloomy tension.

And that night.

Chijijijik-

The Defender’s radio worked for the first time in a while.

“Skeleton. This side is ready. I’ve secured an ambulance with the number 3130. Get in there. I’ll bring your brother out as soon as he’s finished receiving treatment.”

That hospital was a place I knew well.

This is the hospital that Kim Da-ram sent me to forcibly to treat my internet addiction.

“Then I will take care of it.”

“You’re leaving already? Wasn’t it supposed to be two days?”

“Because my schedule has changed.”

“Okay. Once I get out of here, I’ll go find my senior’s bunker.”

Cheon Yeong-jae smiled faintly, revealing Awaken’s signature softly shining pupils.

“Come. I’ll treat you to a meal with the produce you grew yourself.”

The streets were so quiet that not a single ant could be seen.

Although you can see military vehicles coming and going here and there, there are surprisingly not many soldiers on the streets.

The reason is obvious.

They would all have been sent to the front lines.

As a shield for Kim Byeong-cheol’s brilliant achievements.

Thanks to that, I was able to easily access the hospital in question and find an ambulance.

Just before opening the ambulance door and entering, he held his breath and pulled out his gun.

There’s someone inside.

Someone is trying to force the engine to start.

“Miss! Why isn’t it hanging?!! This height is right!”

It’s not a defender.

It’s not even affection.

It’s a third party I don’t know.

Instead of making the mistake of looking through the window, I went to the back and very subtly checked to see if the rear door would open.

There is nothing to worry about.

It opens.

He held his breath, opened the door, and aimed his gun.

Ironically, there was a familiar face.

This is the psychiatrist I consulted with.

That’s not all.

His wife and young sons – twins – stared at me with pale, weary faces.