Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 230



Only Krnovel

98. Mausoleum (3)

Robots enter and investigate places that humans cannot explore.

This idea is a historical and traditional method that was also adopted in Chernobyl, where the first meltdown occurred.

Even during the Great East Japan Earthquake, robots explored the site of a nuclear meltdown filled with radioactivity and confirmed the phenomenon instead of humans.

Current drone technology is virtually at a standstill, but it is still far more advanced than it was at the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake.

In order to deal with the various wars between humans and the unique situation of monster wars, humans have persistently developed machines to replace themselves.

Unfortunately, I have no experience using or handling a drone myself.

When I was in the battlefield, the Chinese soldiers who were in charge of the drones were the ones I was working with, but since I intentionally kept my distance from the Chinese, it was impossible for me to gain or learn anything from them.

But I know one person who is good with drones.

This is Ha Tae-hoon from the 11th class.

When Cheon Yeong-jae brought up the story of that gentleman, I sighed and thought of him as another burden entering my domain, but that thought has completely disappeared now that the need for drones has increased more than ever.

“Let’s see. This is Michuhol-gun. There’s not much left.”

Cheon Yeong-jae and I are currently in Incheon.

It’s to take Ha Tae-hoon with me.

The vehicle chosen as a means of transportation is an old car that Cheon Yeong-jae brought along, and it wouldn’t be strange if it broke down at any time.

He says he fixed the engine, but I’m not sure.

Still, I thought it was better than using my own car, so I used Cheon Young-jae’s car, and it turned out to be an excellent choice.

We were shot at least four times on our way here.

It was more of a random shooting aimed at a lucky hit rather than an ambush, but I couldn’t bring my precious vehicle to such a horrible place.

Although it was dangerous, we barely managed to arrive at a location in Incheon where Ha Tae-hoon was said to live.

As someone who once lived in Incheon, Cheon Yeong-jae was well-versed in the surrounding geography as well as the distribution of powers that dominated the area.

“That’s Shelter Area 13, and that’s Shelter Area 34. They’re both guys who refused to go to Seoul. Shelter Area 13 and Shelter Area 34 are both basically gangsters and criminals, but Shelter Area 13 is better. They’re all really bad guys.”

Ha Tae-hoon is said to be staying at the 13th shelter in question.

The conditions at the shelter have become worse than when I visited Incheon.

No, strictly speaking, this would be the normal appearance of an abandoned group in the era of destruction.

When a group of people are cut off from government support and are forced to survive entirely on their own, the line between crime and legality is bound to collapse.

Only the value of survival is above all else, and secondary values ​​unrelated to survival are treated as meaningless.

Indeed, from the entrance to the shelter, the feeling of a declining community is palpable.

Naked and hungry boys and girls, carrying crude weapons, stared at us with blank eyes, while men with tattoos on their faces and bodies watched us with ferocious eyes, carrying weapons.

There was also a woman who showed off her skinny body and flirted.

“Don’t make eye contact.”

Cheon Yeong-jae looked straight ahead and whispered to me.

I was thinking of doing that anyway.

But we certainly showed off our weapons and we did not let our guard down.

“······.”

It’s a bit surprising.

It had been half a year since I last went to Incheon, and although it was poor at the time, there was still some semblance of social discipline that I had known.

The present, where such things have disappeared, is literally a jungle made of humans.

The increasingly muggy weather heading into summer may have further reinforced the perception of the jungle.

“Aren’t you a thousand hunters?”

Soon a skinny middle-aged man appeared in front of us.

He was a man with a shaved head and tanned skin. Although his body was thin, the muscles on his body were so firm that they looked like a rock.

The man seemed to be acquainted with Cheon Yeong-jae and they talked about a few things.

“Ha Tae-hoon?”

The man nodded.

We were guided into the subway by grim-looking men.

There were several men holding judge killers inside the subway.

Perhaps because of the frequent battles, firearms themselves seem to have become rare items.

Aside from the Judge Killer, it was not uncommon to see people wielding homemade shotguns.

Their eyes were fixed doggedly on the rifles we were carrying.

The skinny man guided us to a woman.

It was a woman wearing a gorgeous, high-quality hanbok that I had acquired somewhere.

She looked to be in her mid-30s, but she had so much makeup on that she looked older.

But even that heavy makeup couldn’t hide the gruesome knife marks on her face.

“I heard that you’re looking for Ha Tae-hoon.”

Cheon Yeong-jae motioned for me to stay still.

Here he is the expert.

I did as I was told without saying anything.

“I was in contact with senior Ha Tae-hoon until recently, but we suddenly lost contact. By the way, we are all from the same school.”

A strange look appeared in the woman’s eyes.

“okay?”

“Where is senior Ha Tae-hoon?”

“I went out to hunt mutations. But he hasn’t come back. I gave him a lot of money. I gave him three full magazines’ worth of bullets. But it’s been three days and I haven’t heard from him.”

“Let’s go and see.”

The woman nodded and gestured to her subordinate.

As I was leaving the subway, I asked Cheon Yeong-jae.

“Is that woman the boss over there?”

Cheon Yeong-jae nodded.

“Madam Kim. She’s a former pimp. She’s a cruel and ruthless person.”

“It seems like those kinds of people become the director?”

“Those who didn’t are long gone. Along with the shelter.”

“Senior Ha Tae-hoon. He’s not dead, is he?”

Just like soldiers in wartime, our hunters also consider missing during operations as dead, but the period of recognition of death is shorter than that of soldiers.

If you don’t return for more than a day, you are considered virtually dead.

The operation time itself is short and the distance is also short, so it is no exaggeration to say that the level of risk is in fact the highest.

If you haven’t returned for more than three days, it would be a serious enough matter to send out a death notice during your active service.

“I don’t think Senior Ha will die against a mutation. It’s not even a named mutation, it’s just an otter.”

“It’s an otter.”

“Why are you laughing?”

“I thought that even natural monuments could all become mutations.”

“Otters are at the top of their ecosystem. They are not to be trifled with.”

“I know.”

I thought it was quite annoying.

It is a well-known fact that those who live in water are more picky about their stomachs than those who live on land.

The mutant nutria that appeared along the Nakdong River before the war was notorious for being just as difficult to eradicate as the original.

It is a creature with a higher ecological status than the nutria, so it is bound to be picky.

“It seems like a lot of people are employed at shelters?”

I asked Cheon Yeong-jae as we headed towards the mutation otter habitat.

“Because the shelter values ​​us highly.”

Cheon Yeong-jae answered while checking his gun.

“······Still, I don’t touch monsters. Especially not looking at the ones that have been there for a long time.”

“Mostly mutations?”

“Who knew there would be so many beasts in South Korea?”

In the distance you can see a river covered with reeds.

The stream, with its faded and faded walking paths on either side that were once used as a place for citizens to exercise, carried a considerable amount of water and flowed toward the sea.

What we are looking for in these familiar yet unfamiliar waters is not otters.

We came here just to find our classmate, Ha Tae-hoon.

I believe so too, but Cheon Yeong-jae also believes that he is alive.

The aura of the battlefield speaks for itself.

This place is far from the battlefield.

If you’re really unlucky, you might get hit by a mutation or die from a blind bullet, but we’ll find out later.

Just- just-

Cheon Yeong-jae made a sound by hitting a strange tool that looked like a nail clipper.

Just- just-

It didn’t seem like the signal itself had any sign.

If you look at it, it keeps sending out two signals regularly.

“That’s strange.”

Cheon Yeong-jae muttered and looked around.

He asked without looking at me.

“Do you see something?”

“No. There are no people. No mutations. But I can definitely see the monster territory across the river. And.”

I looked back.

Five zombies were staggering toward us.

A guy was walking quickly.

“Senior Park, will you take care of it?”

An ordinary person would have been completely distracted by the zombies, but Cheon Yeong-jae stared cautiously at the reeds with an indifferent expression.

You could say it’s the composure of an old school hunter.

He nodded and picked up the axe.

Bam!

There is no need to use bullets.

Normally, I would have dealt with it with a pistol, but seeing everyone in the subway with a pistol as a judge killer made me feel the importance of bullets more than usual.

There’s no harm in saving.

Bam!

Killing zombies also helps you loosen up.

As I was dealing with the last zombie, I felt Cheon Yeong-jae’s gaze on me.

He whistled.

“It’s true that Jang Ki-young’s people’s movements are all flashy. Should I say they’re stylish?”

“······Our officers value appearances.”

“Come to think of it, there’s a rumor going around that there’s a zombie that looks like Instructor Jang Gi-yeong walking around.”

“okay?”

“Senior Jaehyuk said he saw it from the dock.”

“If it’s Jaehyuk, then Bang Jaehyuk? Is that the one with the injured leg?”

“uh.”

“Where is that guy?”

“That guy went under Kim Da-ram. But after a week, he said shit. I haven’t heard from him since.”

A zombie that resembles Jang Ki-young.

It’s a very interesting story, but it doesn’t seem like it’s something we should discuss now.

Crash

Cheon Yeong-jae and I, two hunters, simultaneously aimed our guns at the reeds.

There is a hidden human.

In some ways, it is the thing we fear the most and that actually poses the greatest threat to us.

Because nothing can be more threatening to us than an ambush by a human being with a gun.

Just- just-

The brief tension that had built up was broken by a familiar beep.

As a crackling sound echoed through the bushes, Cheon Yeong-jae picked up a tool that looked like a nail clipper and made a similar sound.

Soon a man wearing combat fatigues and a jungle hat slowly walked out of the bushes.

Ha Tae-hoon.

He is two grades higher than me.

He looked thinner than before, even after applying stomach cream, but his outward health did not seem to have deteriorated significantly.

“Youngjae. And isn’t this the professor?”

Ha Tae-hoon raised his hand while looking at me.

“Senior Ha.”

When I called him senior, Ha Tae-hoon shook his head strongly, annoyance showing all over his face.

“I’m not from that school and I have no intention of being one, so don’t call me a senior.”

“Then what should I call you?”

“Don’t even use formal language. Just say ‘Mister.’ Excuse me. Let me see. I think that’ll be fine.”

Wait a minute, what country is Bojaja called?

I guess it’s okay.

Ha Tae-hoon, who I was trying to take with me, is alive.

That too, just fine.

I told him what I wanted to do.

Ha Tae-hoon listened to my story with a blank expression on his face, but even as he spoke, I had a strong feeling that something bad was going to happen.

As expected.

“No. I can’t go.”

Ha Tae-hoon flatly rejected the offer.

“No, what are we going to do here? If Kim Byeong-cheol abandons Seoul, this neighborhood will turn into a safari without a fight.”

Although Cheon Yeong-jae immediately protests, Ha Tae-hoon is a person with a clear opinion in many ways.

Cheon Yeong-jae looked at Ha Tae-hoon with a knowing expression.

“Is it because of your ex-girlfriend?”

Ha Tae-hoon became serious.

“no.”

“There’s no reason for you to stay here other than that.”

“There are many reasons.”

Ha Tae-hoon looked back at the bushes with an expressionless face.

“I made a promise with Madam Kim.”

“There’s no need to keep a promise with that kind of human garbage.”

“I know Madam Kim gets a lot of hate, but what can I do? I like Madam Kim.”

Cheon Young-jae looked dumbfounded at Ha Tae-hoon’s words.

“No, what do you like about that kind of woman?”

“I like the look of a strong person. He also has good vitality.”

Ha Tae-hoon walked towards the reeds, and Cheon Yeong-jae followed closely behind him.

“Are you being threatened or something?”

“No, that’s not it.”

I followed Ha Tae-hoon into the bushes.

I can see the tent he set up.

Inside the tent, a tablet was placed in a horizontal position, and its LCD screen contained dozens of smaller screens, each showing a different area.

It’s all a stream.

There are differences, such as under a bridge, next to exercise equipment, and a small island in the middle of a stream, but they are all scenes shot in real time of a part of the stream flowing in front of us.

Ha Tae-hoon yawned and stared at the screen.

“We’ve caught everything, so it would be a shame to give up here, right?”

Cheon Yeong-jae looked up at me with a bitter smile.

“Our teacher Ha. As you can see, he is obsessed.”

I looked at the various equipment installed on the screen and inside the tent in silence.

It definitely took a lot of work.

At the same time, I felt like I knew what kind of person Ha Tae-hoon was.

He is a thorough preparer.

Investing excessive amounts of money in carrying out an operation and then recovering the cost based on the operation.

It may not have been the type that the Chinese people like very much.

There is a saying that they are easy-going, but I have never once received the impression that Chinese people are easy-going when it comes to matters of profit.

That’s probably why promotion is slow.

When dealing with China, much of our evaluation is left to the Chinese who actually use us.

I don’t speak a word of Chinese and I don’t try to please the Chinese, but that’s a good thing.

In the face of overwhelming performance, personal impressions are a good thing.

He sat down next to Ha Tae-hoon and opened his mouth, looking closely at a fish-like drone spread out inside the tent.

“I know you don’t like being called senior, but I’ll just call you senior.”

“why?”

“I don’t like using other titles because they make me sound familiar.”

Ha Tae-hoon looked at me blankly and asked me in a subtle way.

“······Do you have a favor to ask of me?”

He is certainly quick-witted, as expected from someone his age.

“I have something to do.”

Didn’t deny it.

“What’s going on?”

“There’s a place full of radiation, and I want to borrow your drone to retrieve something.”

“I don’t think people realize this. Radiation also affects drones.”

“I have a lot of supplies. Let’s take a look and talk about what you need.”

Ha Tae-hoon rolled his eyes for a moment.

Soon he looked at me and blurted out.

“I have a suggestion, too.”

Then one of the sensors inside the tent blinked.

This is a motion detection sensor that I also have.

Ha Tae-hoon enlarged one screen on his tablet.

A large, dark beast was sticking its upper body out on a rock in the stream, dripping water.

It’s an otter. Mutated.

But the contents in front of the rock the guy is standing on are an eyesore.

It’s a human head.

And there are more than one or two.

More than ten human heads were piled up on the rock, as if performing a ritual.

Ha Tae-hoon looked at me with expressionless eyes and spoke to me.

“Can you help me?”

He nodded.

Crash

It’s light hunting.