Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 262



Only Krnovel

108. Swamp (1)

A message from Ballantine: I’m glad you finally got here. To be honest, things have gotten so bad that I can’t stand it anymore.

Message from Ballantine: What kind of place is it? You won’t die right away. It’s not like it’s a dangerous neighborhood where you’ll always get shot at when you live in Bangi-dong. But what should I call the place I’m in now? It’s a place where you’ll die.

Message from Ballantine: And with summer coming, food is running low and we don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s really urgent.

Valentine is said to live with his “neighbors” in a remote area outside of Seoul, on what was once a riverbank but is now a wetland.

Valentine commented on his neighbors:

Message from Ballantine: These guys are fucking shit.

If Valentine, who rarely uses foul language like swearing, says something like that, then they must be really shitty people.

Valentine warned that there was a possibility of clashes with the neighbors and that he had quite a bit of luggage to bring, so he decided to take the truck.

Another thing to note is that, unlike in the past, there are passengers.

The colleague I will be working with is Cheon Yeong-jae.

Not only is he a fighting force, but his sensing abilities also have a powerful effect in preventing the most threatening accidents – ambush attacks.

“Then go.”

Ha Tae-hoon decided to guard the bunker.

The departure time has also changed.

In the past, most people would wait for the sun to set and set out on their journey in the evening, but now they pack their bags and leave the bunker before the sun rises.

In a situation where there is a means of defense called Cheon Yeong-jae, if a battle takes place, it is more advantageous for us during the day when it is easy to identify enemies and the visibility is clear.

Of course, Cheon Yeong-jae is not omnipotent.

“If a guided rocket like a Javelin flies outside of the detection range, you die.”

However, not many of us are wealthy enough to use expensive guided weapons against light trucks.

We followed the old highway, littered with abandoned cars and debris, to where Valentine was hiding.

“What kind of person are you?”

Cheon Yeong-jae asked about Valentine’s Day.

“Network expert.”

“Network expert?”

As expected, Cheon Yeong-jae reacts negatively.

“What about combat experience?”

“There won’t be that many, and I don’t plan on using them as combatants.”

“Then where are you going to use it?”

I answered calmly to Cheon Yeong-jae, who was looking at me with a suspicious gaze.

“I plan to hack the Jeju network.”

“Jeju Network?”

“Yeah. It’s like poking a hole in the government network.”

To be precise, it is a judgment call on the Jeju Intranet – Red Archive bulletin board.

Cheon Yeong-jae, who had no idea what I was really thinking, muttered with a dumbfounded face.

“······Are you trying to obtain confidential information from the Jeju government?”

“?”

“Did you see that far, Senior Park?”

“······.”

“As expected of a professor. Seriously, I got a real kick out of it. I thought you were some random network expert, but I didn’t know you had such a deep meaning.”

“······.”

“By the way, is it possible?”

“Everything is ready. Just have to get people here.”

The vehicle drove up the road toward its destination.

The destination was marked as a sports park on the navigation system, but now there is no sign of a park there.

As the war began, the Chinese military simultaneously targeted major infrastructure such as dams with conventional bombs as well as nuclear strikes on major cities and strategic locations.

The dams that control the water flow of the Han River collapsed during the attack, causing the water level of the Han River to rise rapidly.

The swollen waters overflowed the embankment and covered the residential areas, farmland, and walking trails that had been built beyond it, and the land submerged in the river changed its shape.

Valentine’s hideout turned into a swamp.

“Oh, here. I’ve been here before.”

Cheon Yeong-jae looked back at the murky land that had turned into mud and swamp.

“There was some kind of civic sports park. I think I did some camping training there.”

“In a place like this? There’s a dedicated training center in Yecheon, right?”

“I handed that site over to the Ministry of Defense.”

“okay?”

“You know, our riders are pets.”

Cheon Yeong-jae pointed towards the swamp with his finger.

“By the way, I think there’s someone over there.”

“Confirmed.”

A lonely ruin stands tall above the swamp.

It’s a chain store that sells items that cost 1,000 won.

The building was submerged in swamp from the middle of the first floor up, and the walls had collapsed in several places, exposing the steel frame, as if it had been hit by artillery fire.

It’s not a very attractive place from the outside.

Above all, that damn swamp makes people reluctant to approach.

furthermore.

Snap!

There are also zombies.

Cheon Yeong-jae smashed the skull of a zombie that was rushing towards him with a metal bludgeon that looked like a flagpole.

“Can I help you?”

Five zombies were coming towards us.

“no.”

Cheon Yeong-jae swung his blunt weapon lightly and wiped out the zombies.

I always feel this way, but Cheon Yeong-jae’s close combat is definitely not cool.

I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with that, but as Jang Ki-young’s disciple, it’s a bit odd to see it that way.

“By the way, how are you going?”

I looked around.

there is.

Red and white painted road posts poke out from the thick grass.

If you search under this stake, you will see a rope.

All sorts of hideous insects were tangled under the rope, and the rope was pulled up.

The rope was pulled taut, revealing the remainder of the building leading to the supermarket, which had been submerged beneath mud and swamp.

“oh.”

There is a small raft next to the rope.

Float it in the swamp and pull the rope by hand.

This is the classic way to get to the ruins in the middle of that swamp.

We hid the vehicle before heading to the ruins.

The vehicle is covered with a camouflage net loaded into the cargo area and finished with grass around it.

It’s a hassle, but it’s a necessary task, as it would be a painful mistake to lose your vehicle while you’re away for a moment.

After finishing disguising the vehicle, we climbed onto the raft.

Swish-

I’m the one pulling the rope.

While I pulled the rope and steered the raft towards the ruins, Cheon Yeong-jae stood guard with his gun drawn.

I couldn’t see anyone, but Cheon Yeong-jae warned me that there were at least three people on the wall.

As we got fairly close to the mart building, a sharp scream was heard from beyond the ruins.

“Who are you? Why are you here?”

A voice that is full of a clear sense of fear mixed with discomfort.

I heard that voice and thought to myself.

I guess these guys would make for some unpleasant Valentine’s Day neighbors.

He answered, glaring at them who had still not revealed themselves.

“I am an acquaintance of Mr. Park Man-su.”

Park Man-su is the name Valentine uses here.

Soon a cold reply came back from beyond the ruins.

“There is no such person.”

I saw Cheon Yeong-jae.

Our hearts were in sync.

As I nodded, Cheon Yeong-jae fired a gun into the air.

bang!

He waited for the echo of the gunshots to fade, then looked out at the ruins and spoke again.

“Let me ask again.”

*

The ruins were split in half by the artillery fire, creating a chasm that resembled a valley.

Cheon Yeong-jae was already pointing the rifle’s muzzle straight ahead, and I was also holding a pistol in one hand and holding the rope to move the raft.

A large room filled with water appeared, and beyond it, through a broken wall here and there, three men holding crude firearms were glaring at us.

“senior.”

Cheon Yeong-jae looked at one of them and whispered.

He is a man wearing a military uniform.

He seems to be well into his late 40s, but the problem is the military uniform he is wearing.

From the chest pocket of the old digital military uniform to the shoulder, there are so many insignia attached that it is reminiscent of a general in the old North Korean military.

This is the uniform of soldiers of the old legion.

In particular, those working on the front lines competitively decorated themselves in this way.

The executives didn’t really intervene.

No, I couldn’t touch it.

Even if we provoke the disgruntled soldiers who are fighting for their lives while receiving only meager support, the only result will be mutiny.

At the point when the front line collapsed, there were countless places where non-commissioned officers and junior officers attacked the higher command and turned into warlords as a group.

There is a man among them who seems to have such a story.

It’s not something to be particularly afraid of, but trained, experienced soldiers need to be careful.

The rest were ordinary civilians, one of whom appeared to be in his mid-50s and the other in his early 30s.

His nutritional status didn’t look that good, but he wasn’t malnourished.

As you enter the building, a strong foul smell is felt.

In addition to the putrid stench characteristic of swamps, the damp air was permeated by the smell of human excrement and unwashed body odor.

It’s not a place with a good environment.

Although they are less visible and less accessible, making them less susceptible to invasion, they lack essential elements for long-term survival, such as hygiene, which are often overlooked.

I took the dust mask out of my pocket and put it on.

Cheon Yeong-jae also wore a similar mask on his own.

The raft arrived at the customer conveyor belt leading to the upper level.

Under cold gazes, we climbed the conveyor belt and headed to the upper floor.

“Mr. Skeleton!”

A familiar voice was heard from the wall in the square.

It’s Valentine’s voice.

The men who had been watching us gave him cold stares.

There is a great deal of resentment and hatred felt.

One of them asked Valentine in a dry tone.

“How on earth did you contact me?”

I am a man in my 50s.

He was short, balding, and had a thin, unattractive body.

Valentine didn’t answer.

A man in his 30s standing next to him spoke to a man in his 50s.

“I guess he contacted me through that computer.”

He is taller than other people, has a good build, and a mediocrely handsome face.

However, it appears that he did not receive proper military training compared to his physical size, and he limps slightly on his left leg.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I was able to escape this fucking garbage dump.”

Valentine seems to be quite upset here too.

As I gave him a look, Valentine whispered in a low voice.

“They’re not even shitheads. They’re just shelter idiots. You can ignore them.”

Park Man-su started moving the luggage.

Cheon Yeong-jae tried to help, but he blocked him with a glare.

It is enough for Park Man-soo to move the luggage alone.

As Park Man-soo went inside and started moving his luggage, a man in his fifties approached him, accompanied by a former military man.

An unpleasant gaze scans me up and down.

Soon he asked curtly.

“······Are you close with Park Man-su?”

He nodded.

“Are you close?”

I watched in silence.

Because it was transparent as to why this person was saying such things.

I can guess what he’s going to say next.

Maybe I’ll see Valentine’s Day.

“I don’t know what good things you saw in Park Man-soo, but he has no faith. He always thinks of betraying me when he gets a chance and slacking off. I heard that guy came out of the shelter he was in before with a firm backstab.”

What’s more concerning than what this man says is the skinny, short man in the military uniform.

I don’t know why, but he’s glaring at me with his chin pulled in, exposing the whites of his eyes, and he’s fiddling with his greatsword.

Swish swish-

He also shows off the strange feat of spinning a greatsword by hand.

What do you want to do?

Are you really calling this a threat?

Cheon Yeong-jae also saw the same scene and smiled faintly before taking out a coin from his bosom and showing it to me.

“crane.”

Cheon Yeong-jae threw a coin into the air and aimed his pistol.

bang!

The bullet struck the coin squarely.

The part that the bullet hit was, as he had predicted, a 500 won coin.

The face of a man in his fifties and a former soldier was hardened.

I don’t really intend to criticize or ridicule them.

It’s probably a group of men trying to show off a little bit to other groups of men.

Our goal is to get Valentine out of here.

The fate of those rotting in this stinking swamp is a good thing to me.

“What do you guys do?”

A man in his fifties asked in a more polite tone than before.

“I am an acquaintance of Park Man-su.”

He looked at me coldly and showed a slight displeasure.

It is an expression of the intention to not want to talk any more.

They stood facing each other at a distance, whispering among themselves, as if they were completely oblivious.

Ignoring them, he and Cheon Yeong-jae glared at them and waited for Park Man-soo to bring all the luggage.

About three minutes later.

“There are surprisingly a lot of people here.”

Cheon Yeong-jae muttered while glaring beyond the wall.

“How many people are there?”

“Even if I can’t do it, there will be more than ten.”

“Where is it?”

“It’s inside. They’re gathered in the place where Park Man-soo went.”

The moment I heard those words, I had the feeling that the person hiding was not a combatant.

Perhaps they are elderly people who have been hiding from us.

My prediction soon turned out to be true.

Faces peeking out from beyond the wall, looking at us.

They are people.

The age range was diverse.

There were young women, middle-aged women, and even a boy whose height was barely above an adult’s waist.

A man in his fifties looked in that direction and shouted.

“No! I said stay inside! Stay inside!”

A great deal of anger.

It was a loud scream that made the entire large hall shake in an instant.

At that sound, the women and children hurriedly hid inside, but soon after, Park Man-su came toward us with a mocking face, pulling a wheeled carrier.

“He’s the head of the household. The head of the household.”

I said it as if I was telling them to listen.

A man in his fifties glared at Park Man-su.

“Park Man-soo.”

“what?”

Park Man-soo glared at them from next to me.

“Do you have something to say to me?”

“Park Man-soo!”

As a man in his fifties approached, a man in military uniform tried to stop him.

I told Valentine on my side too.

“I understand that you are upset, but is it really necessary to do this when you are leaving?”

“Ha, that human. He’s the worst of the worst. The worst of the worst.”

Valentine pointed toward the wall.

It’s a place where people gather.

“Half of the people who came here after hearing that guy’s words are already dead, and the other half are even blocking us from leaving with their own gang. If we continue like this, we’ll all die here. If you hadn’t fired a gun outside earlier, I wouldn’t have let you in.”

Valentine added, moving his luggage down the conveyor belt.

“They never admit they’re wrong.”

Then the man in his 50s shouted again.

This time, he seemed even angrier than before and strode towards me with brisk steps.

Crash

Aimed the gun.

“What did you just say! You little shit!”

The man approached me with his eyes wide open.

“What do you know about something like that!”

The distance is close.

I pulled the trigger.

bang!

The bullet passed right past the man’s earlobe.

The man, who felt a cold sensation in his ears, looked at me with a dumbfounded expression as if he had never been angry before and soon sat down on the floor.

Cheon Yeong-jae and I didn’t pay any attention to him.

We just watch the rest of the guys with their crude guns.

Valentine said, glaring at the man sitting on the floor in a daze.

“······It’s always like this.”

I felt the gazes.

It is the gaze that watches us from beyond the wall.