Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 231



Only Krnovel

98. Mausoleum (4)

It is objectively proven that mutations are particularly hostile to humans.

But it’s not just their hatred for humans that makes them want to kill so many people.

Humans are a pretty good source of protein, easy to hunt and provide a lot of calories if you know how.

Just look at the incident in India where an old tiger hunted dozens of humans before the mutation occurred.

It is no exaggeration to say that untrained and unarmed humans are walking food.

The mutation we’re dealing with today also chose humans as one of its primary prey, and the reason for this is likely nutritional rather than hostile towards humans.

A stream of only a small width would not be able to provide enough protein to feed a carnivore weighing several dozen kilograms.

On the other hand, although the number of humans has decreased significantly, they are still the most numerous animal on Earth and live in groups all over South Korea.

Even if I were a giant otter, I would gladly choose humans as my prey.

However, mutations that specialize in hunting people know a lot about people.

They don’t give up their firing angles very often.

No, it tries to avoid the situation itself being observed by humans.

This is because their heightened intelligence accurately understands that wherever a person’s vision reaches, there is a risk of firearms.

“That bastard. Don’t give me a chance. It’s harder because it’s near the water. If you sense even the slightest movement, he disappears into the dark water. Once he’s in the water, you can’t find him. Even if you see his shadow in the water, you can’t catch him. I just realized how vulnerable guns are to water.”

Ha Tae-hoon talks about the typical difficulties of hunting cannibalistic mutations.

In reality, it is not easy to catch those who decide to run away.

Even though so many hunters went, the Gold Pack alone survived, so you can clearly see it.

“So I installed cameras at every intersection he walks on, but it’s not easy. Even if I film him with a camera and move to that spot, he senses my presence first and hides. You know? The tension when a mutation ambushs you?”

“This side will be difficult to approach too.”

At my words, Ha Tae-hoon nodded and spat on the floor.

“······If I get hit alone, it’s over. I’m talking about becoming one of the skeletons that otter has lined up.”

Ha Tae-hoon turned his gaze to the tablet screen.

A giant otter swims leisurely across one screen.

And he said this with a very comfortable and relaxed expression.

“What is the best way to catch it?”

Ha Tae-hoon looked at me.

Mutation hunting is not my specialty.

My team and I prioritized hunting monsters over mutations.

Because monsters are much more valuable targets and prey for top teams like ours than mutations.

However, I have seen numerous hunting cases and also gained experience in mutation hunting while working in Korea.

There’s one lesson I learned from mutation hunting there.

“Mutations are stupid.”

Mutations are smart.

Superior intelligence is a crucial factor in helping mutations rise to a status similar to that of humans.

But it is rare to find a gift in this world that has only positive effects.

“Therefore, they don’t let their guard down.”

Carelessness is a weed that can only grow in the soil of confidence and comfort.

The growth of the weed is proportional to the size of the conviction, and only man can grow a weed so large that it can bring about his own destruction.

Mutations with similar status to humans are not much different.

They also have areas where they can absolutely let their guard down.

Such areas are in line with what they consider to be their absolute strengths.

I think the biggest distraction for a man-eating otter is probably on the water.

“What? You want to let the boat drift upstream?”

Yes, that’s right.

Approach through the water on a vehicle that allows you to move your body from above.

It absolutely avoids humans approaching from the shore, but how would it react if it saw a human approaching from the water, which could be considered its home ground?

Maybe they will try to do it?

“I’m not good at swimming. The swimming pool was closed when I was a kid.”

“It’s not a very smart plan. What I’m thinking of is a multi-drone attack. They’re not giving us an opening yet, but I don’t think they’ll stop giving us an opening forever.”

Cheon Young-jae and Ha Tae-hoon’s opinions are negative.

But I don’t have much time.

We must retrieve his last legacy from the tomb of Jonnaenon as quickly as possible.

A quick trip to Jeju Island would bring stability to my future, which is full of instability, and at the same time, it would also connect with the future of the Republic of Korea, or rather, humanity, that I so desperately want to know.

Frankly speaking, if Kim Da-ram’s men systematically raid my bunker, the chances of me surviving are extremely slim.

It doesn’t seem like reality will change even if you have fellow hunters like Cheon Yeong-jae and Ha Tae-hoon as your bodyguards.

This is a conclusion I can be certain of, having dealt with many humans and killed many of them.

“I’ll get on. Can’t you just save the boat?”

I absolutely hate taking risks, but I will not spare myself from the event of certain death in the future.

I am the top old school hunter, called Professor, even though I am rotten.

My words speak for themselves.

“······I have a rafting boat in mind.”

“Rafting boat?”

“That’s the only ship around here. Is that okay?”

I answered Ha Tae-hoon’s worried question with a faint smile.

“Just save me. Oh, and.”

He glanced inside Ha Tae-hoon’s tent and pointed to a spot with his finger.

“Can I use that?”

*

My mentor, Jang Gi-yeong, who never stopped imagining day and night to interpret the Hunter as the pinnacle of human warriors and create a corresponding appearance, naturally had a strong interest in underwater combat.

“Someday, mutations or monsters roaming the sea may appear. In preparation for that time, our hunters need to become familiar with the water. Under the Sea! Hunters!”

That’s why an Olympic-size indoor swimming pool was built inside the now-demolished school.

Contrary to Jang Ki-young’s intentions, the Hunter swimming pool has become an expensive playground for students who like to take pictures in swimsuits that reveal their bodies like Woo Min-hee’s, but it is also true that during the semester, it is used for training by diligent students like me.

Thanks to that, I’m not that afraid of water.

I also learned how to balance on water.

One of the training exercises we did involved hitting targets from a banana boat floating on an artificial wave pool.

At the time, I used to look at Jang Ki-young with suspicious eyes, wondering why he would do such crazy things, but as time passed, it actually helped.

“He’s 3km downstream, on top of a rock with skulls lined up. We’ll move to a nearby spot first and prepare for cover.”

Cheon Yeong-jae and Ha Tae-hoon headed to the battlefield first on electric kickboards.

He held the small camera firmly on his shoulder and picked up the oar.

The boat is made of reinforced plastic resin and is large enough to accommodate up to eight people.

The river has a high flow rate and is quite deep in some places, but there are obstacles like stepping stones hidden in the flowing water here and there, and reefs and small triangles created for landscaping often catch the eye.

The depth of the river is about 1.5 m, but in some places it can exceed 3 m.

The flow is slow, but it speeds up considerably at points like bottlenecks.

Crash

As always, the weapon of choice is a rifle.

I wasn’t wearing a safety vest.

I have no intention of falling into the water, and even if I did, the safety vest would be a lifesaving tool against the giant otter.

Chijijik-

There was noise in the communicator.

“He’s still there. He’s yawning really long.”

It’s Ha Tae-hoon’s voice.

He still had doubts about my operation.

Ha Tae-hoon’s plan is to dig numerous traps as he said and wait until the mutation falls into them.

It is true that passive operations minimize damage, but it is also true that they consume a lot of resources, such as time.

Wasted time leads to damage elsewhere.

It is a truth that the field commander does not know and does not try to know.

Sometimes getting it done quickly and decisively yields much better results.

Risk is not something that should always be avoided.

The attitude required of our hunters is to be willing to take risks that can be tolerated.

We lost a lot of team members because of it, but it can’t be helped.

Because we were able to minimize damage elsewhere.

Swish-

The boat was pushed against a rock by a paddle, causing the anchored boat to drift in the current.

The boat rocked violently from side to side, then slowly but quickly slid downstream with the current.

“We have started moving now.”

He spoke into the communicator.

“It’ll take about ten minutes. If there’s any change in the bastard’s movements, I’ll let you know then.”

“Isn’t there anyone else around?”

“No one comes near this area. The reason for this is the otter we’re trying to kill.”

“Just in case, I’ll ask you to check the surroundings again.”

Boating in early summer is a pretty good sport for your mental health, but if you are boating in this narrow river and are attacked by people with guns on the banks on either side, you are literally a target.

I don’t know if I can swim as fast as an otter, but I don’t have flippers or fins, and I’m carrying a bunch of heavy metal weapons.

This means that you absolutely must be careful.

“There are no people around. Continue the operation without worry.”

Certainly, when conducting operations, it is easier to do it with several people than alone.

The comfort of fighting alongside a trusted fighter is something Kim Da-ram reminded me of earlier, but it is definitely better with more than one person.

When I was in China, all the menial tasks like searching for, arresting, and eliminating rebels were left to the Chinese military.

I was comfortable in every way back then, but if I had to go back there again, I’m not sure.

In that gray battlefield where the lullaby leading to death resonated, I experienced a sense of the boundary between life and death becoming blurred, and that feeling still comes to life sometimes, leading me into an endless drowsiness.

I’m not the only one who’s had a similar experience.

A great number of nihilists were produced and walked into nihilism.

Only egoists like Kim Da-ram, who only see an inch ahead, could easily return to reality.

thud!

The boat rocked violently as it struck an underwater structure.

It appears to have collided with a stepping stone bridge installed before the war.

There was no significant damage other than some significant shaking as expected from a rafting boat.

Occasionally, beyond the rapidly flowing water, the sun’s trajectory slowly tilts westward, burning the sky red.

Below that, there is a reed forest that has grown excessively densely, and cars that have fallen into the water, unidentified pieces of trash, and broken traffic lights are strangely occupying a corner of the stream like unauthorized plants.

“1km ahead. Can you see him?”

Ha Tae-hoon’s voice is heard.

“Not yet. Any movement from the bastard?”

“There’s no movement at all. If you approach it from land, it will jump into the water in a flash.”

“Let’s wait and see a little longer.”

I know the common properties of mutations.

They have the nature of hating humans, but also want to challenge them.

That is, they do not avoid people on a battlefield where they think it is advantageous to them.

Their heightened intelligence has given them the attributes reserved only for humans: challenge and arrogance.

It remains to be seen whether this will be a gift or a curse.

“500m.”

“Ah, I see.”

“I will approach the cover position.”

“No, stay where you are.”

“what?!”

“Because the worst thing that can happen in my opinion is that he runs away.”

It’s been this way from the beginning.

Mutations that make escape their first option are important in preventing escape.

That means I’ll have to fight him one-on-one on a battlefield where he has an advantage, but I’ve taken out some insurance.

The mutation’s location was confirmed with a simple observation scope.

The guy yawns lazily as he stands on a rock with skulls lined up.

The bastard’s ears perk up and he looks this way.

The guy jumped straight into the water.

The direction is upstream, not downstream.

That is, he chose me.

The guy who entered the water sparkling in the sunlight just before sunset completely disappeared from sight.

He stood tall on the bow of the ship, his gun hidden in the bow.

“······.”

This is the beginning of a game of tag.

It’s not particularly difficult.

A dark shadow appears in the dark water.

I let it come closer.

His pattern is obvious.

He’d probably capsize the boat and then crush my head with his teeth while I flounder in the water.

In fact, the bastard is approaching me in a very shameless straight line.

Because you saw that I didn’t have a gun.

“Hey! Park Gyu! He’s right in front of us!”

Ha Tae-hoon’s urgent cry was heard.

“I know.”

He bent down and took up his weapon.

It’s not a gun.

It’s a battery.

I saw the guy.

Don’t run away.

He’s ignorant about batteries.

Phagejik-

Ha Tae-hoon immersed the cable of the large-capacity battery he used to charge his drone into water.

Although no change is visible in the water, the water droplets splashing on my body inevitably contain the thrilling energy of electricity.

Phage crackle!

It is definitely not enough current to kill a giant otter, which weighs an estimated 50 kg.

but.

Phagec!

It would be enough to confuse and stiffen an approaching otter.

As soon as I saw the bastard’s movements stiffen, I took out the rifle hidden in the belly and took aim and fired.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Water droplets splashed in the red-hot water as it turned into the setting sun.

As soon as I saw the bastard struggling, I automatically changed the trigger and emptied one magazine.

Tata tata tata tang!

The bastard turns and runs away.

Certainly water itself is solid.

If it had been on land, the bastard would have died.

But it hurt him.

“This is Park Gyu. I shot him and he ran away.”

“As expected. Professor. Alright! I’ll move right away, senior.”

Hunting wounded animals is an age-old pleasure for hunters.

On the sunset-stained waters, we had a hard time finding traces of the thing in water that was not much different from blood, but we had Awaken.

Cheon Yeong-jae pointed to the reed field and we killed the bastard there.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The final blow was left to Ha Tae-hoon.

Ha Tae-hoon kept laughing as if he thought it was ridiculous, and after executing the otter, he approached me.

“This is ridiculous. To corner this monster in this way.”

“Mutations secretly take people for granted.”

“Okay, so where should we go?”

We secured Ha Tae-hoon.

“I’d like you to check one place with a drone before that.”

*

“This is.”

I didn’t feel good.

Why, because the value of the item I am looking for is so high.

Besides, the location of the tomb is not really a big secret at the national level.

“They are Chinese.”

The mausoleum of Jonnae-non, located inside a dilapidated old apartment building.

About 2km away, a group of Chinese men wearing hazmat suits were camped out.

Among them was a man holding an anachronistic sword.

Although his face could not be seen because he was covered in a protective suit, it was not difficult to see that his every movement was filled with great confidence.

“White head.”

Ha Tae-hoon recognized the man.

“Why is China’s strongest player there?”