Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 271



Only Krnovel

111. Cold pipe (3)

“well.”

How can I understand this cold-blooded man’s thoughts?

Still, since they’re curious about my thoughts, I guess I should answer.

As we pause to consider our words, innocent children pass by us.

A boy stares at the corpse, but a girl grabs his ear and leads him away.

“Kids love it.”

Diesirae looks at the children leaving with a sly smile.

“When there are children, the group seems peaceful. The same goes for couples who get along well. Those things act as a buffer and make the place seem more livable.”

“Are you saying it’s some kind of decoration?”

I asked, watching the children walk away.

“That’s not it. It’s useful.”

Diesirae shook her head and answered.

“Even animals find their own cages, so don’t people do the same? A person with no place to go, no matter where they go, has some good friends. Friends who are competent, upright, and determined. Do you think a den of human garbage that lives only for today while on drugs would be better for those friends? Or do you think a community with happy families would be better?”

“It would be the latter.”

He looked at the body and answered briefly.

“What crime have you committed?”

A safe question would be good.

There is no need to take an opposing stance with this guy here.

Diesirae smiled faintly.

“Our community has also surpassed 50 people. We accepted more than twenty members of the initial Viva! Apocalypse! But you know. When people grow like this, problems always arise. It’s like that everywhere, right? The dilemma of the embedded stone and the rolling stone. To be honest, we’re talking among ourselves, but there are some friends who are low-level among the initial members. They’re precious friends, but what can you do about them? But to me, the embedded stone and the rolling stone are precious.”

Diesirae looked up at the corpse hanging on the scaffold with blurry eyes, a meaningful smile on her face.

“As the conflict gradually deepened, I made contact with a group of survivors. They were a group of market merchants. I had a feeling about them from the beginning. Ah, these people. They are a bunch of losers.”

“Ugly people?”

“You saw a lot of them before the war. Noisy, rude, always comparing themselves to others, establishing a hierarchy, and most of all, ungrateful people.”

“Did you accept it with the intention of killing me from the beginning?”

At the cold question, Diesirae smiled with a pleased expression and pointed at me with her finger.

“Exactly.”

Is this an English word that means accurate?

“I knew from the beginning that these guys would cause trouble. This girl was particularly strong-willed. She was the kind of person who was proud of her strong-willedness. I let her run wild. Well, the rest was as expected.”

Diesirae picked up a rock from the ground and pretended to throw it at the corpse.

“This woman, who was particularly hated, was tied up and stoned. No one was allowed to escape except the child. They killed her with everyone’s hands.”

The part that I hated the most about Diesirae.

Diesira uses humans as tools.

He uses that tool without hesitation, reservation, or taboo.

“There’s a saying that even a blank piece of paper is better if you hold it tightly.”

“······.”

I just hope this guy doesn’t come near my territory.

The best future would be for him to die to another enemy before meeting me, but it doesn’t seem like this human will die that easily.

“There’s one thing I’d like to ask.”

I deserve to be paid for listening to such disgusting stories.

It is to see with my own eyes the fate of those who chose hibernation, something that I wanted to know.

It is said that there are more than 10 satellite devices.

Humanity aside, Diesirae’s abilities are outstanding.

“Oh, there.”

He had a precise grasp of the situation where I was going.

“You’d better not get close.”

“Is there a monster?”

“There is something scarier than monsters.”

Diesirae smiled and looked to the northeast.

“There are ghosts living there.”

*

Skeletons gathered in a certain spot, old and worn-out booby traps installed here and there, warning signs written in red paint like blood all over the place, and the damp, shady atmosphere that the land had from the beginning.

It’s definitely a place where ghosts would live.

“This place was called Deokdaegol. They didn’t even bury the children who died before their parents, but wrapped them in a straw mat and threw them away.”

The guides were a young couple.

The man had connections to the area, and the couple fled, meeting Diesirae along the way and sharing their fate.

It’s not just for my safety that Diesirae assigned me a guide.

Cunningly, Diesirae gave no instructions to the civilian couple.

So you don’t see any of the annoying habits that beginner spies often have, like watching or observing.

They are purely trying to guide me to my destination, which is called Deokdaegol.

I guess he’ll come back from work and ask me questions about this and that.

If it’s Diesirae, you’ll be able to figure out my intentions with just a few clues, and if there’s a corner you can guess, you’ll go and look around yourself.

It’s not that I find it particularly annoying.

Although it’s a shame to waste 10 satellite devices, my only purpose is to confirm the results of hibernation, which I wanted to see.

– If you come, you die!

– Look at your feet!

– Ghosts live here!

This phrase is written all over the foot of the mountain.

Although it is a childish threat, the sophisticated handwriting clearly visible within it catches the eye.

This is probably the handwriting of a fairly old person.

“Are you an acquaintance of the Captain?”

A man approached me.

“Captain?”

“Yes. You were talking earlier.”

“Ah. Yes.”

I thought you were talking about DSirae and not MGU.

By the way, Lokahun had called Diesirae Captain before.

“Yes. We have some kind of connection.”

“I’ve never seen the captain take the time to talk so personally.”

“is it so?”

“Yes. That’s why I was wondering if you were an alumnus or something.”

For some reason, this young couple was watching me.

Well, I can see their intentions.

I’m close friends with Diesirae, and I hope that if I speak well to Diesirae, their treatment will improve.

It’s amazing that anyone can have other thoughts in this dreary land.

Even though I am always on guard against my surroundings.

“We’re friends on the internet. Aren’t there a few in your town too?”

He answered dryly, shifting his gaze frequently,

“Yes, it is. But it’s a different atmosphere from that place.”

It sticks around persistently.

I feel like it’s starting to get annoying.

As the forest became darker and the number of booby traps visible to the eye increased, I stopped for a moment to warn them.

“Hey, isn’t it a little dangerous here?”

I looked around as if I was looking at a tree.

It’s midsummer, around noon, and yet there’s little light in the forest.

The overgrown undergrowth and the vines climbing up the undergrowth are blocking out the sun, spreading shadows and an eerie atmosphere within the forest.

Inside, eerie warnings are written here and there, and the floor is littered with rusted booby traps that have lost their function but still have their evil intent.

The story is that there might be people.

The one who wrote that phrase and set that trap.

The young couple, however, appeared to be indifferent.

“He would have died.”

The man said.

“If you listen to the people who used to live here, there was a murderer living in hiding in this area two years ago, but he suddenly disappeared. He must be dead.”

His expression is like, “No way, something could happen.”

As I was looking at him with a displeased expression, this time the woman opened her mouth.

“We didn’t come here for nothing. Let’s go over there. There’s a house where the hermit used to live!”

I think I know the background of your confidence.

They have explored this area.

That experience seems to have weakened their sense of fear.

“Captain, you too. You should know that there’s nothing here. How dare you make your acquaintances wander around in vain.”

They kept trying to steer the conversation towards Diesirae.

This is a passage that reveals how much of a stake Diesirae holds in their lives.

It’s unclear exactly what they felt about Diesirae, but a significant part of their emotions were fear.

No matter how well you decorate and package it, not many people will look favorably on a leader who executes a dozen people as if it were nothing.

We must have felt the crisis that we too might end up in a similar situation someday.

“It’s over there.”

Amid the mystery, a mossy, rock-like artifact emerged.

It’s a bunker.

Rather than being built recently, it appears to be a reused facility built during the Korean War.

“A hermit lived here.”

As the man said, inside the bunker, traces of life such as dirty bedding, leftover food, and pieces of rags that could not be recycled remained in the dust and dirt, leaving a desolate impression.

“Did you find the body?”

There were no marks on the body, so I asked the man.

“No. There wasn’t. There was nothing.”

“There was something like a bag of medicine.”

The woman spoke with her eyes sparkling as if she remembered something.

“You know how people with chronic diseases take whole bags of medicine from the pharmacy? They used to pile them up like a mountain. Our village doctor, Mr. Jeong, said that they were medicine for diabetes and high cholesterol, but I remember that they didn’t take them and left them unused from the middle.”

Information is appreciated, but the attention is burdensome.

He’s trying to score points with me somehow.

“······.”

I tried to ignore it and looked around.

There must be a secret facility with a hibernation facility around here.

“What are you doing?”

“Just a moment.”

I explored my surroundings while being subjected to the cold gaze of the couple.

The first thing I looked for was a ventilation system and a drain.

Unless it’s a grave, there has to be one.

Of course, wherever people go, whether it’s a dormitory or anything else, there has to be a breathing hole.

“Not yet?”

“There’s nothing here. Don’t waste your time.”

It was late afternoon when we found the traces.

So, it’s a point where the nagging between couples gets worse and worse and it’s hard to bear.

Dalgrak-

I hear something being stepped on.

That’s right.

It is an artifact.

I tried digging the dirt with my hands.

Indeed, beyond the sand and gravel, a concrete drainage ditch can be seen, squirming with all sorts of bugs.

By looking at the location of the drain, I was able to estimate the location of the secret facility.

Is that it?

I see a spot where I can dig into the slope like my bunker.

Although the area is covered with thick trees and plants, it cannot completely hide the artificial beauty that can still be seen faintly.

Slurp-

As we peeled away the camouflage that seemed to become one with nature, a rusty iron gate appeared before us.

“Huh? What is this?”

A young couple who had been mumbling endlessly approached me like a swarm of bees.

“Can I help you?”

I told him to do it because the intention was obvious, but it was better than getting shot in the back.

thud!

The three forces soon opened the tightly shut door to the bunker.

“Ugh!”

“Ugh!”

Inside the bunker there was a terrible, rotting smell.

It’s the stench of a corpse.

The stench was so strong that we had to ventilate the room for a while.

After the smell had somewhat dissipated, I put on a mask and went inside.

There were ten round coffins lined up neatly on both sides of the passage.

The design appears quite futuristic and cutting-edge.

Anyone can tell that a lot of money has been spent.

All ten of those coffins seem to have owners, but there is one person who is not in one of them.

“Look over there.”

A pair of feet are seen floating in the dim darkness.

This is the body of a suicide victim.

A young couple illuminated the corpse’s face with a lantern.

“Huh? That?”

The cool, dry environment caused the corpse to dry out.

Even with its gaunt appearance, the corpse must have been famous enough to be recognized by people who did not know it.

“Isn’t that Jeong Ho-yeong?”

“Do you know him?”

I asked him.

*

As expected, the hibernation was a mess.

Inside the coffin, dried-out corpses lay with their eyes closed as if they were sleeping.

Every single one of them died.

There is no way to know when they died, but judging by the condition of their bodies, it is certain that they died around the same time.

Nelson Yongbeom, whom John Nae-non had cursed so much, was eventually revealed to be a fraud.

However, John Nae-non repeatedly raised one question in the records he left behind.

“I mean, that guy. I should say he was an old man. He was really smart and intelligent. He was old enough to be my father, and he was more knowledgeable about IT than I was. Since he was so smart, wouldn’t he have made a lot of money? I can’t understand why such a smart person got caught up in such a scam. That’s why I want to check that place out even more.”

There was quite a long silence after that.

It was only later that I learned that Jonnaenone had said one more thing after that silence.

“······Did that old man really sign that contract?”

The man who hanged himself alone in a cold room decorated as if it were a luxury item was said to be a famous person in the area.

He is said to be a so-called local big shot who always returns to his hometown during the year-end and New Year’s holidays to show his face and make donations.

John Nae-non didn’t reveal the identity of the VVIP, but I’m sure this body is that VVIP.

The young man spoke as he looked at the body lying on the floor.

“There were big rumors going around that he wasn’t on good terms with his wife and children. Everyone knew because they had a huge fight in front of everyone in the hotel lobby.”

“Why did you fight? You come from a wealthy family.”

“There’s something like that. It’s when a wealthy old man uses his wealth as bait to manipulate his family as he pleases. They say that this tendency gets worse as he gets older.”

The man clicked his tongue as he looked at the corpse.

“He was a nobleman who always lived in Seoul, so I thought he was dead because I had no news of him after the war, but he turned out to be in a place like this.”

The woman muttered when she heard that.

“What a pitiful life. Even though he had so much money, he couldn’t even get into a coffin and ended up hanging himself. Life is truly meaningless.”

They don’t even know that this coffin is a hibernation coffin.

It was usually assumed that these people were pessimistic about their situation and chose the easy escape of euthanasia in a fancy coffin.

“······.”

Several thoughts come to mind.

The largest mass of thoughts that can’t seem to come together is connected to the question of John’s theory.

Perhaps the old man knew that the hibernation was a lie.

I don’t know why or with what feelings they put the family in that coffin.

It is not for me to judge why he returned to where his dead family was, lived alone without even taking medicine, and then hung himself to death.

He is dead and his story is over.

Therefore, what I am saying is nothing more than wild speculation.

Here is a definite, unfinished story.

“Excuse me, sir. I’m really sorry. Couldn’t we just do this together?”

“Yes. Please. We’re getting a little hated by the captain right now. It’s dangerous! Haha······.”

Those corpses won’t be the only ones in the coffin.

There is another cold coffin, and inside it live those who are not yet dead.

Therefore, even when their story ends, the ending will not remain a guess.