Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 336



Only Krnovel

Episode 336 135. Generation (3)

Early in the war.

The movement of refugees was strictly controlled.

Strictly speaking, the structure was such that it was easy to get in but difficult to get out.

Once in large cities where large-scale evacuation camps were set up, police and soldiers were responsible for controlling the refugees.

It may be possible for a group to speak out, but it is not easy for an individual to escape this control.

Therefore, it doesn’t really matter what you did before the war or how much wealth you had.

The world has reverted to a one-dimensional form.

The only real assets are those that are in your possession, and the abilities you can prove in this cramped refugee camp are your only abilities.

Cheon Yeong-jae is a person who cannot help but stand out within these rules.

He is a top-tier Hunter from the school and has a wealth of combat experience. He is even a low-level Awaken.

The old man named Park Yeong-chuk, whom Cheon Yeong-jae recalls, was a man of wealth worth over 1 trillion won before the war, but now he was nothing more than a powerless old man clad in worn-out luxury goods.

The young and old people, who seemed completely incompatible, joined hands.

Cheon Yeong-jae didn’t explain how the two came together, because the battle had already started before that.

“Now. Let’s go.”

It wasn’t difficult.

He found a gap in the defenses and took advantage of it to eliminate the threat.

Bam!

It’s not a very pleasant thing to kill someone with an axe. The least I can do for the deceased is to let them go without pain.

puck!

Cheon Yeong-jae used a shovel.

He changes his weapon from time to time, and this time it seemed like he had chosen the weapon that best suited his hand.

They neutralized three people and entered the nursing home.

It seems that they probably only had one entrance for defense purposes, but it’s a crazy idea to only know about one and not the other.

It might be a good choice against guys who come into the hospital to loot, but for guys like Cheon Yeong-jae who have no intention of looting and are purely interested in killing, it’s a perfect environment.

There was a large mirror hanging at the entrance.

It seemed to have been poorly used and was covered in stains and creases, making the reflected image appear quite blurry.

As I was absentmindedly looking at myself in the mirror, Cheon Yeong-jae suddenly spoke next to me.

“Let’s set fire to it.”

It is a good judgment.

Setting fire to the building would probably kill most of them.

I thought about it for a moment.

“What are you hesitating for?”

“Can we talk for a moment?”

“What are you talking about?”

Cheon Yeong-jae is furious, but when he sees murderous intent in his eyes, he closes his mouth and asks again in a softened tone.

“What? Talk to an old man? He won’t listen even if you talk to him.”

“Let’s just do something about just one leader.”

Anyway, we’ve already secured the victory.

The only places the elderly can go out are narrow hallways and stairwells connected to them.

The windows on the first and second floors are all blocked with concrete or brick.

It wouldn’t be wise to show up in a hallway guarded by not one but two Hunters.

Because as soon as you show your hands and feet, you’ll be shot.

“Who knows? There might be someone who thinks differently from that old man.”

Even if there is a generation gap, we are all Koreans.

I think that before South Korea fell into rapid materialism, older people in South Korea had a better image than they do now.

In Cheon Yeong-jae’s silence, he fired a gun into the air.

bang!

Again, the battle is already over.

The elderly were trapped in a trap of their own making, and had to put their lives at our mercy.

Of course, they also put up some resistance.

Bang! Bang!

Only after two more bodies were found did they finally agree to negotiate.

My requirements are simple.

“The person who communicated with us. Send him this way.”

The old people were silent.

“I’ll give you an hour to spare.”

Amid the murmur of the elderly people across the hallway, a heated debate ensued.

A heated debate.

I don’t think it will be decided easily.

Cheon Yeong-jae is already preparing to set fire.

Synthetic oil and woodpile.

And a match.

Although it is worth less than a million won by pre-war standards, it is more than enough to prepare for the massacre that may soon occur.

“Where did we leave off just now?”

Cheon Yeong-jae, who had regained his smile, resumed his story.

“Yeah. You were planning to go to the secret bunker with Mr. Park Young-chuk, right? Maybe?”

It wasn’t an easy task.

First of all, there was the problem of distance and the need for firearms.

Cheon Yeong-jae had neither a gun nor a car.

Even though we can fight against the same human being with cold weapons, it’s a different story when we meet mutations.

If you are a hunter who is good at cold weapons like me, you can fight mutations with cold weapons, but depending on the type of mutation and your experience level, you can get eaten up by it.

Finding a vehicle wasn’t easy either.

At the time, there were still cars running around the city, but people who had been trapped in evacuation camps with nothing to take had no way to get a car other than theft or robbery.

What caught my eye then was an advertisement recruiting pioneers.

Cheon Yeong-jae, who had broad feet, knew what kind of organization the Pioneer Corps was.

Mr. Park also had some connections and knew the truth about the pioneer group.

“There have been many definitions and interpretations of democracy, but they have all turned out to be bullshit. Democracy is a system for the elderly. There is no political system that serves the elderly as much as democracy. Why? Don’t the elderly have a vote?”

Old Man Park tilted his glass and muttered.

“The Pioneer Corps is the government’s answer to the question of what it means to be an elderly person who does not have a ticket.”

According to Cheon Yeong-jae, Mr. Park was a person who viewed everything negatively.

He doubted everything.

Even the pure good intentions or sincerity of others.

“That gentleman always has his conclusions made up. It doesn’t matter whether he’s right or wrong. He always says the right thing. Why, I’m older and have accumulated more wealth. What does what you guys say mean? Even if the money wasn’t earned by my own efforts, but by luck from the orchard land I inherited.”

The Pioneers provide guns, vehicles, some food, and troops to get to their destination.

Despite the impurity of their intentions, the two decided to take advantage of this opportunity.

Although the Old School Hunter has been pushed out by the Awaken Hunter and has been relegated to being an old man in the back room, it is still a top-tier force at the Awaken level.

Moreover, Cheon Yeong-jae is a veteran hunter who was even dispatched to China, not from an academy but from a school.

It was only natural that he would take on the role of leader of the pioneer group.

The pioneer group consisted of seven people in total.

As it was an early pioneer group, many different people gathered.

There were those who simply joined to get food and money for their children and wives, those who joined without much thought because they hated the stuffy life in the shelters, those who had been dishonorably discharged after an accident at the front, and even one woman.

But they all knew clearly what they were doing.

Everyone is a murderer and a massacrer.

No one can protest on the grounds that no one knew.

The group of pioneers decided to leave Seoul with 50 senior citizens on two buses to seek new opportunities.

Cheon Yeong-jae accepted 10 more elderly people in the process, and his proactive actions left a strong impression on government officials.

“As expected, hunters who have been to China are different.”

Leaving behind words that could not be said to be praise or sarcasm, Cheon Yeong-jae led the pioneer group of 67 people and headed south.

“Hey! Over there! Let’s talk. Let’s talk.”

At that point, the old man who had been communicating with us spoke for the first time.

“There was no bad intention. There was no bad intention at all!”

From behind the wall he spoke in a slow, now disgusting voice, as if complaining.

“You killed four people? Do you need to see more blood? Are you a murderer? Huh? What’s the point of killing more old people who have no more days left to live? Go to hell. You will be punished. You people.”

His whining was silenced by a single gunshot fired by Cheon Yeong-jae.

“Shut your mouth and crawl out. Either you die alone, or you get dragged out with the rest of the damned corpses. It’s that simple, isn’t it?”

Cheon Yeong-jae looked at his watch.

“30 minutes left.”

He glanced at the pile of firewood next to him.

The debate continued again.

This time they even fight.

“You son of a bitch!”

“You die, you punk! Just die!”

“Why should I die? Huh? You ignorant brat who didn’t even graduate from college!”

Being old doesn’t make arguing more refined.

Rather, their arguments felt more one-dimensional and vulgar than children’s bickering.

“It was the same back then.”

Cheon Yeong-jae’s gaze returns to the regrettable past from which he cannot return.

“There was a fight between some old people on the bus. They were fighting in a really childish and vulgar way.”

Of course, the fight between the old people is what Cheon Yeong-jae and Park No-in want.

Anyway, they were all people who had to die and disappear in front of Mr. Park’s bunker.

As the bus left Gyeonggi-do, the pioneer group revealed their true colors.

“I’ll take care of something for a moment.”

The first abandonment was when an old woman suddenly stopped the bus to go to the bathroom and then let the bus start moving while she was gone.

Even though the old woman was running after them, screaming, the bus continued moving forward leisurely.

The second organic was more daring.

“Elders, please go to my house.”

The one who took the lead was a father with two daughters.

He was a devoted father-in-law, but he was ruthless towards the elderly.

“Go away, you little shits. Fuck! Move!”

After dumping ten people in an abandoned apartment, the bus continued on its way.

At that point, the old people sensed their own fate and exchanged glances, trying to figure out a way to live, but they didn’t know.

Is there a traitor among them?

The pioneers left one of their buses without fuel for the elderly to occupy and continued on their way.

There were only twenty old people left.

“Chief. Should we start organizing things here soon?”

Mrs. Kim, the only woman in charge of driving, checked the fuel level and asked Cheon Yeong-jae.

“Let’s go a little further.”

It was literal.

If you go a little further, you will reach Mr. Park’s bunker.

At that point I asked a question.

“That old man Park, he was no pushover. Did you intend to live with him?”

Cheon Yeong-jae shrugged his shoulders.

“That guy had diabetes. He hadn’t taken his medicine for over a year. He had other chronic diseases besides diabetes. How long would a person like that live?”

It is presumed that they were quite close, as they even knew of each other’s hidden medical history, such as diabetes.

However, it is questionable whether Cheon Yeong-jae believed Park No-in’s words just because of that.

I don’t even know if that secret bunker really exists or not, so why was it necessary to go on a risky adventure that could lead to my own death and sacrifice so many people?

It doesn’t fit with Cheon Yeong-jae’s usual behavior of being cautious and always suspicious of people.

Now the bus has reached the bunker.

The first victim was Mrs. Park, who was behind the wheel.

bang!

A single blow from behind pierced the back of the head.

As Mrs. Park lay dying with her head buried in the steering wheel, the bus continued to move forward along the winding mountain road towards the cliff.

In the midst of the chaos, Cheon Yeong-jae grabbed Park No-in’s arm and jumped down with him.

The bus suddenly crashed to the ground.

It is a neat and economical solution worthy of Cheon Yeong-jae.

Now is the time for reckoning.

The old man, who was destined to die soon, climbed the rugged mountain path with incredible energy that belied his old age.

“Here it is. Here it is.”

The two arrived at the entrance to the bunker.

It was a secret fortress hidden by natural rock walls.

“Jeong-hoon and Jeong-hee will be here too. Have you seen them once when you were little?”

With a satisfied smile on his face, Mr. Park pressed the hidden call button.

But there is no answer from inside.

Mr. Park opened the door in a way that Cheon Yeong-jae couldn’t figure out.

The moment the door opened, a foul smell assaulted my nose.

The smell of a rotting human corpse.

“no······.”

There were seven corpses.

Four adults and three children.

“No······. Jeong-hoon. Jeong-hee. I said no······. Oh my. Chung-ho. Chung-woon······.”

The body was so badly damaged that the cause of death could not be determined, but based on the burn marks and unburned flash grenades, it was assumed to be suicide.

In front of the corpse, Old Man Park knelt and spoke for a while, unable to forget his words.

The body had to be moved.

No matter how well-ventilated a bunker is, it is unbearable if a corpse rots inside, and there is even a risk of disease.

Cheon Yeong-jae moved the body outside.

Although disposing of corpses was a tedious and troublesome task, it was a blessing for Cheon Yeong-jae.

They were a prickly bunch.

Including dead children.

Moreover, he thought that their deaths might be another opportunity for him.

“He was my father.”

In that part, Cheon Yeong-jae solved the biggest mystery himself.

“I was an illegitimate child. The fact that I was ordered to be a hunter was partly because I wanted to do it, but I think the nobleman’s wish for me to die quickly was also a significant part of it. I can’t help it, because I’m a year older than my peers. If you’re my senior, you know how difficult it is.”

As he moved the last body, Cheon Yeong-jae thought of words of comfort.

I was excited, scared, and hopeful at the same time, wondering how I would deal with the presence of a father I had never spent time with.

But reality, as always, is cold.

thud!

The bunker door was closed.

“······Mr. President?”

I knocked on the door.

There is no answer.

“Chairman Park Young-chuk!”

I kept knocking on the door.

But there is no reaction inside.

“What do you want to do? Yes? What about a promise?”

Darkness comes.

Even though it is early autumn, the nights on the mountain are chilly.

I pounded the door hard enough to knock my fists out, but there was no answer.

Emotions began to mix with the dry calling.

“Why are you doing this? You did as you were told, didn’t you? You killed people as you were told, and you threw all the old people who believed in you down there, didn’t you? Even after all this, why? Why are you doing this!”

No answer.

Finally, I tried appealing to the love of family.

“father······!!”

But even his fateful appeal went unanswered.

In an eerie silence, Cheon Yeong-jae slid down the iron door, his back turned to the iron door covered in his own blood.

“······Fuck.”

He muttered.

“How much longer do I have to live······.”

Just as the muttering ended, an eerie voice echoed from beyond the iron gate.

“That’s your true intention.”

Cheon Yeong-jae’s father opened his mouth for the first time.

Cheon Yeong-jae looked back with wide eyes.

Only then did he realize.

That his biological father had been standing on the other side of the door without moving from the beginning.

He waited with a persistent and almost sly patience to catch that one slip of the tongue.

“Those words that just came out of your mouth were your true feelings!”

With a rage that felt like being whipped, Cheon Yeong-jae discovered the camera that was shining on him from the corner.

bang!

He opened fire and destroyed it in one shot.

Tata tata tang!

They also shot at the door.

The metal plate is dented here and there, but the sturdy door shows no sign of opening.

After emptying his magazine, Cheon Yeong-jae turned around.

I knew it before the shooting.

That there will never be a day when that door will open again.

Even if he were to die of old age or an illness inside, that old man would not give himself even a single benefit.

“······.”

550km, mutations, looters, cold and food, legal liability and prosecution upon return.

Another reality that was about to come loomed like a dark cloud beyond the fading darkness, but Cheon Yeong-jae walked toward the darkness without the slightest hesitation.

“Well, that’s the story.”

Cheon Yeong-jae spoke naturally as if nothing had happened.

“That guy. He should be dead by now. But you should go there. Anything more than a hideout won’t do. When I looked, there was almost no food or fuel stored. The bunker was large and fancy, but the inside was completely empty. That’s why he committed suicide.”

“······.”

Perhaps his chronic suspicion became firmly established from this point on.

“Get out! You little shit! Get out!”

Reality has also been sorted out to some extent.

The old man who had harmed us was dragged out by another old man.

He was a decent-looking old man with white hair.

The appearance soon became hideously distorted.

“Kaaaak! Kyaaak!”

The moment the old man spat on another old man, Cheon Yeong-jae opened fire.

bang!

knee.

bang!

Opposite knee.

The old man falls forward with his legs bent in different directions.

“Ahhhhh!”

Cheon Yeong-jae fired his last bullet into the mouth of the screaming old man.

He smiled with satisfaction.

“There’s no need to talk to old people. Why is there a generation gap? Their way of thinking is different. They just can’t communicate.”

The match struck and caught fire.

“I’ll be the bad guy.”

“······.”

He didn’t say anything.

Actually, I knew it.

That this is the cleanest and most reliable solution.

The fire caught quickly.

“What are you doing!”

“Ahhhhh!”

In the midst of the explosion of anger, I suddenly looked at the mirror hanging on the wall.

Whether it was the blazing flames, the pervasive darkness, or the many gold engravings and numerous stains on the mirror, our faces reflected in the mirror looked different than usual.

The cracked and blurred appearance was not much different from the old people beyond the flames.