Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 295



Only Krnovel

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It’s a very personal journey.

So I decided to go alone.

If by any chance the area gets attacked and collapses while I’m out with my colleagues, it will be entirely my fault.

The point is that you can’t put everyone in danger because of one bad dream.

“I’ll follow you this time.”

Although I had decided to go on this journey alone, Defender strongly requested that I go with him.

“I know that place well. I recently went there for reconnaissance. When I was under Team Leader Kim Da-ram.”

Because his stance was so strong, he allowed me to accompany him.

Defender suggested that they stop by his former hideout before heading to Incheon.

“I hid the ride.”

I was wondering what it was, but it turned out to be an SUV that was close to scrap metal.

Even though it looks amazing that the body rolls to the left, Defender strongly recommends this vehicle.

“If you want to get there, you’d better leave your vehicle with the shelter guys. You’ll have to walk in.”

In the past, the area around the docks was the most popular place in Incheon, where the entire city was turned into a shelter.

You could say “urgent”.

People who could not let go of the mentality of the days when people were ranked by neighborhood and apartment complex tried to make up for their lack of superiority by ranking people even inside the shelter.

But now the docks have been reduced to a land of corruption teeming with living corpses.

“You can see that all the roads are blocked. There are fanatics hiding in that zombie den.”

The reason Defender is trying to tow a vehicle that is barely rolling is because he doesn’t trust the shelter.

“If you take something like your truck in good condition, they’ll hide it somewhere and pretend not to know. And they’ll still do it.”

It is said that the vast area currently called the Incheon region is in a state similar to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, with countless powers each establishing their own territories and claiming their own sovereignty.

There are also allied forces like Park Penguin, but the area he controls is only a small part, and most areas are ruled by the local tycoons who have a firm grip on the area.

A recently popular form of organization is called “just.”

“In the past, we organized by subway unit, but these days, we organize by base around medium and large apartment complexes. It’s easy to defend there, and we can utilize the infrastructure within the complex. That’s why we call it a complex.”

The Defender is said to be acquainted with the complex closest to the docks.

The car rolled along just fine.

According to Defender, it may look like it’s in bad shape on the outside, but it’s not that bad on the inside.

The car is tilted and looks like a giant sledgehammer, but it is said to operate without any major problems.

I sat in the passenger seat, tilted slightly to the left, rocking like a merry-go-round at an amusement park, lost in thought.

“······.”

Since when did contact between me and Jang Gi-yeong disappear?

It was Jang Ki-young’s eventful later years that provided the decisive turning point.

He struggled against the unstoppable flow of water called Awaken, and resorted to all sorts of desperate measures.

Media play, lobbying, anonymous whistleblowers, lawsuits and accusations.

Although he did not personally embezzle any money, it is true that he provided numerous accounting frauds, kickbacks, and illegal favors to support his delusions.

Various administrative actions and lawsuits wounded the body of the man who claimed to be an indomitable hunter, and the media smelled the blood and gnawed at the wounds. When he had nowhere left to go, he was treated like a plaything by YouTubers.

Even though I knew Jang Gi-yeong’s circumstances, I didn’t contact him at all.

It’s not a question of whether he likes it or not.

I was at my limit too.

Spending a month in a slumped position with broken limbs across the cracks is not an easy task even for someone with an iron will.

In addition, my long-standing inferiority complex, the feeling of helplessness that I couldn’t do anything on my own, and the doubts about life combined made it difficult for me to even take care of myself.

However, Jang Ki-young was contacted first.

At that time, I knew the call was coming, but I didn’t answer it.

When I later went to see him, he was a completely different person from the Jang Gi-yeong I knew in many ways.

At that time, I decided on my own that in some sense, this person’s story was complete.

But the story seems to be far from over.

That’s why I’m in this city now.

“You know what? Dead people can’t speak? Whenever you watch dramas or stories about ghosts, they always suddenly appear and just stare at the living.”

Hong Da-jeong liked ghost stories.

Through the walkie-talkie connected to the car, she told me in an interesting tone about the nightmare I had had.

“The same goes for ghosts that appear in dreams. Their spirits are bound to the afterlife. Even if they want to speak, they can’t.”

“hmm······.”

“Why, Skeleton? You seem to be dissatisfied with something.”

“I remember what one of my dead subordinates said to me in a dream when I was in China.”

“What did you say?”

“Give me my leg.”

“ah.”

I’m not the type of person to believe in ghosts or anything like that.

If there are ghosts and they have the ability to harm the living, there must be so many people in this world who deserve to be killed by ghosts.

But as we all know, there are many people who commit sins and yet live happily ever after.

It would be nice if there were such a thing as hell, but it has not yet been proven that there is such a thing.

“It’s Jang Gi-young’s words.”

Defender, who was behind the wheel, opened his mouth.

As I was silently staring at him, he continued talking while turning the steering wheel here and there.

“I saw it on an internet broadcast.”

“okay?”

I didn’t see it.

I knew he was on such a low-quality show, but I didn’t want to see my teacher fall to the bottom and become a laughing stock for others.

“I don’t particularly like Jang Gi-yeong, but when I see our former principal being made fun of by those human garbage guys, what should I say? I want to kill him.”

The so-called creators who shot the video should be thankful that it was before the war.

Well, most of them are dead now and don’t even leave behind bones.

“Principal Jang Gi-yeong was also a bit strange. Should I say he was delusional? He couldn’t make rational judgments. I couldn’t even understand whether he was trying to tease me or not, so he kept talking nonsense······.”

“Let’s stop talking about that.”

I don’t want to hear it.

The miserable story of my teacher who was thrown to the floor.

His misery is palpable from what I have seen firsthand in my cramped rented apartment.

“I’ll stop. But you’re going to make a robot? That sounded strange to me even when I was thinking about killing that tow trucker.”

“Robot?”

What the hell are you trying to do?

Didn’t we learn from China that robots are no match for monsters?

As the head of the only hunter training school in South Korea, called The Guard, he received as much real-world data as government officials.

“It’s not really a robot, it’s something else. You know, the robot clothes that people wear? Powered suits, you know?”

“Was it like that?”

There was.

Made in the USA.

But in the face of the monster’s new power to disrupt electronic equipment, the well-made powered suit mercilessly bent in the opposite direction of the wearer’s joints, turning the rider into a reed that broke each joint.

“That would probably be difficult.”

An abandoned apartment building is visible on the side of the road.

Lights twinkled near the middle floor of the apartment.

It’s a signal using a mirror.

I don’t know what it means, but it’s clear that someone living in that apartment is communicating with someone down the road.

The defender slowed down.

“Shall we go back?”

“Oil?”

“Hmm. If I turn around, I might not be able to make it back.”

“Then let’s try exchanging it at a place you know. Shouldn’t they have a can of synthetic oil?”

“good.”

As the vehicle corrected its course, the Defender brought up the topic again.

“I was talking about that robot earlier.”

“That’s nonsense.”

He cut it off and said it right away.

“That may sound ridiculous. But Principal Jang Gi-yeong. He has a knack for making ridiculous nonsense sound plausible.”

“hmm.”

I admit it.

My mentor was a man who was strong in one thing: “smart talk.”

“The robot obviously doesn’t make sense, but the background to its creation is so plausible that it’s memorable, right?”

“What did you say?”

“It’s true that monsters are certainly terrifying enemies, but each monster has strict limitations, just like a machine made by humans.”

“Hmm.”

“For example, if you take a reflective field, it will accurately reflect all projectiles below a certain strength in the opposite direction, but if a projectile above that strength comes in, the field will be destroyed, right?”

“Like a bombardment?”

“Yeah. Principal Jang Gi-yeong’s argument was that each monster has such limitations.”

“That’s not exactly a new claim.”

“Yes. But Principal Jang Gi-yeong added one more thing.”

“what?”

He turned to the defender and asked.

“The individual power limits of a monster may be surprisingly low.”

“What are you talking about?”

I raised my voice without realizing it.

Defender looked slightly surprised at my reaction, but continued speaking calmly.

“That’s why Principal Jang Gi-yeong thought that it would have the right level of power to deal with the main enemy, humans. That’s why he said he would create something like that robot.”

“okay?”

He asked back with a laugh.

“Yeah. If the power of monsters is adjusted to the optimal level for dealing with humans, wouldn’t it be enough to create a human with power that surpasses their data?”

Well, that’s fine.

I do not agree with my teacher’s thoughts.

Monsters are strong.

It’s so strong.

Jang Gi-yeong has never been directly hit by the power of the waves emitted by a monster.

I have never fainted from the shock of a wave.

You may have never personally seen what miracles those waves can create.

What is it about him talking about the limits of monsters? That is the reason for my cynicism towards Jang Gi-yeong.

Yeah, it reminds me of his ignorance again.

In a state of complicated thoughts, we entered the ruined city.

As expected, before entering the city, Defender pulled on a mask, sunglasses, and an old baseball cap.

*

Just because there are fragmented organizations scattered throughout the city doesn’t necessarily mean that they are fighting a battle for their survival.

Quite the opposite.

A certain order and conventions developed within the city.

The word conquest is certainly attractive, but the act of fighting it implies is neither attractive nor practical.

At a time like now, when each bullet has become a resource that is difficult to replace, reckless fighting is tantamount to declaring that you will give a windfall to a third power.

“I’m going to the dock complex.”

Defender calmly stated his business in front of the armed forces blocking the path of the ruined city.

A man wearing a gas mask turned around, contacted someone on his walkie-talkie, and gestured for them to go, clearing the way.

“You surprisingly have good manners?”

He said this as he watched them walk away.

“It’s about helping each other.”

Defender definitely has psychopathic tendencies.

Even in situations where you never know when you might be shot from behind, you don’t even shed a single drop of sweat.

“Mutual assistance?”

“Just in case your kids pass through another power zone later. It’s not like there are many of them, just one old car passing by, so it’s not that dangerous, right?”

I’ve been to many ruins, but I don’t go near ruins where many people live.

Because danger lurks in every window of the high-rise buildings that stand everywhere.

In fact, in the windows of the low buildings on both sides of the main street, there was a man with a gun standing by the window, looking down.

The Defender had been to this area before.

“······We came here to catch a guy named Heo Jun. He was a high-ranking fanatic who had been hiding in Incheon and carrying out illegal proselytization and terrorism. Kim Byeong-cheol personally ordered Kim Da-ram to kill him, and that’s why we were mobilized.”

“What happened to that fanatic?”

The defender sighed shallowly and shook his head.

“I couldn’t catch it.”

“Is your real name Heo Jun?”

“No. No one knows his real name. However, he was nicknamed Heo Jun because he deceived people by advertising that he had the ability to cure diseases.”

“Awaken is the one who cures diseases.”

By the way, I also had a friend named Heo Jong-cheol.

At the time, I didn’t like him, but now I think he’s a very valuable friend.

“You still haven’t been able to contact Heo Jong-cheol?”

“I heard that he went under Kim Byeong-cheol.”

“Kim Byeong-cheol? Is he still alive?”

“well.”

Across the road, a pile of cars is blocking the road.

Another barricade, another force.

“Hey. Where are you going?”

An unusual-looking woman with piercings and a mask approaches and asks in a husky voice.

“The dock complex.”

“Ah. The dock complex?”

The woman snorted.

“Are you a guest?”

The defender nodded.

“Hey, things haven’t been so good lately.”

The woman opened the way with a meaningful smile.

Second pass.

This was just the beginning.

We had to go through more than eight different spheres of influence.

Although the inspection and passage itself went smoothly, it was a bad omen that the inspectors consistently reacted as cynically to the dock complex as the woman with the piercings.

As we completed the ninth checkpoint, the distant sea sparkling in the afternoon sun and a tall apartment complex came into view.

“Was it that apartment?”

It’s an apartment I remember.

This is the apartment I saw through the window when I stayed overnight at the lab.

I remember it had a flashy name like Kaiser something or other.

The rattling vehicle entered the complex, belching black smoke.

You could tell that the situation inside the complex was not good even before entering the complex.

There were traces of battle everywhere, and corpses that had not yet been cleared were rotting under the rubble.

Gunmen appeared in a complex filled with the smell of death.

Defender got out of the car, removing the things that were covering his face.

People lowered their guns.

They knew the Defender.

The defender looked around with a stern face and asked.

“What about the head of the Lee Soo-chil department?”

A man with a gun answered weakly.

“Died. 12 hours ago.”

He pointed to the corner with his finger.

There, corpses were lined up with their feet exposed and covered with plastic wrap.

The Defender asked the next question without showing any emotion.

“What happened?”

The man with the gun sat down helplessly, his mouth wide open.

“······The fanatic brought a monster.”

“capsule?”

I asked.

Because what the man said directly contradicts my common sense.

The man shook his head.

“It’s not like a capsule. Damn it… I brought a real monster! A living, moving monster.”