Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 337



Only Krnovel

Episode 337 136. Candle (1)

The fire burned all night.

The fire spread so rapidly that it could have burned down the entire mountain if it had not been for the rain that fell in the early morning.

We took some food, guns, and ammunition.

The next morning at breakfast my colleagues asked me what had happened.

I thought about it for a moment.

Whether to tell the truth or to lie.

The worries didn’t last long.

I told the truth.

“They’re all dead. That’s bad luck.”

It’s not that great of a story.

This is not much different from the story before the war, when there was a bombing somewhere in the Middle East and a few Middle Easterners were killed by the bombs.

No one cares about the fate of the old people who were burned to death.

However, the reason I hesitated to tell this fact for a moment was because I had a feeling that similar situations might occur in the future.

This case has a relatively clear cause, but in the long, long life ahead, other events and people that touch our good and evil may appear before us.

At that time, unless something unexpected happens, it will be me who will have to choose.

As the weather gets colder and a cold front becomes more certain, we’ll likely be forced to make more, more difficult choices.

It was when I was sipping tea in a depressed mood and blankly watching the mountains and fields gradually losing their greenery.

“Mr. Skeleton.”

Valentine’s Day came to me.

*

I had a conversation with Valentine about Necropolis right after I returned from Seoul.

Valentine still seemed to believe that Necropolis was a miracle built on the genius of the man known as Dead Man Walking, but he did not deny my opinion that the radio waves used by Necropolis were different from the radio waves we normally think of, and were the voices of the cracks.

“······Well, cracks are full of things that cannot be explained scientifically. Even though so many monsters have appeared and been defeated, none of their true identities have been properly identified. I think it would be faster to ask him about this. I don’t expect an answer, though.”

I think the reply came yesterday.

“It was a surprisingly quick reply. He seemed surprised as well.”

Together we read the message sent by Dead Man Walking.

When we pressed the automatic translation key, the sentence written in English was naturally converted into a Korean sentence that was familiar to our eyes and brain.

Message from deadman_working: The frequency coming from the rift must be correct. It was an accidental “discovery”.

Dead Man Walking was a man far removed from the mysticism usually associated with those who monopolize knowledge.

He confessed his discovery with cool coolness.

The reason Valentine sent a message to Dead Man Walking was to resolve the problem that occurred during the process of incorporating Necropolis’ radio waves into Viva! Apocalypse!

Viva! Apocalypse! provides high-speed Internet access using state-of-the-art personal satellite antenna equipment.

Although it is about half as slow as the LAN connection before the war, Viva! Apocalypse!’s solid network and stability that has operated without major problems even after the war are clear answers as to why a man named Melon Mask once became the world’s most successful businessman.

On the other hand, Necropolis is a groundbreaking invention that literally defies all known laws of creation from nothing, but it has inherent limitations as it was created from nothing, so it can only accommodate very low traffic compared to Viva! Apocalypse!

For an accurate comparison, let’s borrow Valentine’s words.

“If Viva! Apocalypse! is the Han River, Necropolis is the water flowing through the rainwater pipe.”

Overcoming these disparate limitations and grafting the two together was an extremely difficult task for Valentine.

He suffered alone and eventually asked Dead Man Walking for help. Surprisingly, Dead Man Walking offered a solution as refreshing as his first confession.

“He was no ordinary person. Even if the voice of the crack was discovered by chance, interpreting and utilizing it in a human way is the work of a genius. It is something that ordinary people like me cannot even dream of.”

I’ve been feeling this way for a while now, but Valentine’s Day is coming out of the shadow of John’s.

Although he still thinks of John Nae-non as a great creator, his gaze has long since turned away from John Nae-non and toward the unknown figure known as Dead Man Walking.

You can tell just by looking at the look in his eyes or the way he speaks when he talks about dead man walking.

Valentine considered Dead Man Walking to be his second role model, or idol.

Perhaps it’s a tribute to someone who deals with networks.

Something I will never understand.

Anyway, Dead Man Walking expressed the same opinion as Valentine.

Message from Deadman_working: Actually, I’ve been thinking about this for a while. How can we increase the bandwidth of Necropolis? It’s true that Necropolis has become a dominant SNS, but it’s lacking compared to Melon Mask’s service.

Message from Deadman_working: Think about it. Do you think people who watch YouTube or TikTok would be offended by a few lines of text?

And he proposes a solution.

Message from deadman_working: I heard you live with a skeleton.

Message from deadman_working: If you don’t mind, could you do me a favor?

What is that request?

“It’s a crack.”

Valentine said in a low voice.

“He asked me to measure the radio waves around the crack.”

I think I know why Dead Man Walking brought me up before asking this favor.

Should I say it’s like Dead Man Walking?

It is an extremely difficult and dangerous mission.

Before the war, if there was a kill zone and an army blocking the rift, the area where the rift was breached by monsters would be a paradise for monsters.

Such terrain is called the Overrunned, and while I have not personally been there, footage taken in India shows it to be teeming with more monsters and alien species than the rift I spent nearly a month in.

Going to a place where you have no chance of winning even if you bring an army, with only your bare hands.

Dead Man Walking demands that you do that dangerous thing.

“Can we send a drone?”

“It might have been possible 7-8 years ago, but it won’t be possible now. Monsters are more sensitive to drones than humans.”

“Haa. This is it.”

Valentine is feeling sorry and licking his lips.

I can’t say I know all his expressions, but this is the first time I’ve seen him express such blatant disappointment.

It feels like there is a shadow of frustration beyond disappointment.

But this is very dangerous.

Only top-tier Awakens like Kang Han-min and Na Hye-in can go to Overland.

It is a taboo area that should never be crossed by those who have not received the gift of God like us.

“Ha, if things go well, Deadman Walking said he’d put my nickname on the newly upgraded Necropolis gate······.”

“What did you just say?”

“yes?”

“I think you just said something about nicknames.”

“Oh, that?”

There is a phrase that anyone who enters the Necropolis sees.

[ F. Sawyer, M. O’Connor, and For the Lovely Red One ]

F. Sawyer, M. O’Connor, No one knows what the lovely red thing is.

But hundreds of thousands of users who play Necropolis know them.

“So you’re saying our nickname will be next to Sawyer or something?”

“I’m fine.”

Valentine smiled and waved his hand.

“······.”

Let’s think about this for a moment.

*

“Oh. Senior. What happened all of a sudden that made you contact me first?”

I contacted Woo Min-hee and explained the matter to her.

“What? You want to explore around the rift?”

After embellishing the introduction by saying that it was because of pure academic curiosity and passion, he added a specific reason: the necropolis.

To make it more persuasive, I also exaggerated a bit about the efforts I had put in so far.

“I’ve lost sleep for a month trying to understand the relationship between the radio waves used by necropolises and monsters······.”

“······.”

“Well, senior, you’ve had that kind of academic passion since a long time ago.”

Squeak–

She added with a mischievous laugh, making a sound I didn’t like hearing.

“No, was it because of a sense of resonance?”

“······Zhuge Liang?”

“I’ll hang up~.”

The reason I had no choice but to contact Woo Min-hee, my dear junior, is because Woo Min-hee is the only group with the experience, knowledge, and power to help with this matter.

Woo Min-hee is also a character who, along with Kang Han-min and Na Hye-in, formed the “Alpha Team” and achieved numerous accomplishments within the cracks.

If she helps, exploring the periphery of the rift is no dream.

No, it would be much easier.

I’ve never been to Overland, but I’ve seen similar environments all over China.

After a boring and terrifying conversation, I managed to get Woo Min-hee’s cooperation.

“But I’ve been thinking about it for a while. Why does your senior like to tease you so much? Do you know that even elementary school students these days don’t say things like that? I really don’t understand. Wasn’t your senior the one who shouldn’t tease you more than anyone else?”

I’ve heard a little bit of nagging, but I’m not a weak-hearted person who would let that kind of nagging sway me.

Viva! Apocalypse! made me stronger.

Anyway, since I have Woo Min-hee’s permission, there is nothing to hesitate about.

I was thinking that I should do something big before winter comes.

There may be some risks involved, but can they compare to the risks and sacrifices our Lord has taken?

The problem came from within.

“No, is it that damn internet again?”

I never thought about getting everyone to understand my thoughts.

I also understand that you may be resentful of my lifestyle, which is so obsessed with the virtual world called the Internet.

“No, I’m not trying to stop you. But I think the tables have turned.”

Surprisingly, it was Ha Tae-hoon who stopped me.

He is a man who usually acts with moderation and self-preservation, and if he brings up this story, it seems like he has been keeping it in his heart for a long time.

The story is that the complaints did not build up in a day or two.

Ha Tae-hoon and I are different people.

Their status of birth, their region, and the colors of their lives are all different.

He used the Internet, but he didn’t miss it.

Like other people, he perceived the Internet as a useful tool in life, but he was not absorbed in it.

By pre-war standards, he could be considered to be in the category of a perfectly healthy, normal person.

“Didn’t you build such a fancy bunker here to survive?”

That’s correct.

In order to survive and to get through the apocalypse more comfortably than others, they spent three years building this bunker from scratch.

But people’s thoughts are always changing.

“That’s true. But you know, senior.”

I don’t really want to persuade you.

Who can be persuaded in this day and age?

I just quietly express my thoughts.

“If there are one or two episodes that make you smile before you die, wouldn’t the journey be a little more comfortable?”

Well, I admit that there is a very high chance of instant death, but I won’t consider it.

According to a psychic before the war, even if a person dies instantly, they can see their entire life journey in a split second.

Either way, my thoughts remain the same.

“······You’re the leader here. I’m saying this because I’m worried.”

Ha Tae-hoon sighed and muttered to himself.

It seems like a self-deprecating question about what will happen to this place when I die.

That could be a problem.

but.

“senior.”

I approached Ha Tae-hoon.

“I’ll be back.”

I won’t fail.

So the schedule for going to the crack was set.

There are two people who set out on the journey.

It’s me and Valentine.

Things are different now than they were in the Necropolis.

You can’t take them all, and you shouldn’t take them all.

Our territory has been exposed several times around us, so we need to defend ourselves more intensely than before.

Above all, this mission is for us.

However, Valentine’s Day’s companionship was not planned in advance.

Exploration of the rift periphery and the Overland is extremely dangerous.

Mutations aren’t just monsters.

Around the rift, there are unique monsters that appear before the monsters, called otherworldly creatures.

Scholars in the past had the perfectly natural opinion that the alien species was an indigenous creature from another world, but that theory was overturned long ago.

In fact, there was nothing like that living beyond the crack.

Inside the crack is a world of perfect death.

Enough so that not a single bacterium can survive.

No new theories have been put forward in response to this chilling evidence.

Because the war that broke out at that time made everything meaningless.

However, in my opinion, I think that the alien species is probably a prototype.

A prototype of a new monster, one suited to the environment of Earth beyond the rift, to increase their disgusting gray-white color.

You can tell just by looking at how they started out gentle and non-aggressive, but gradually became more ferocious and evolved to only destroy humans.

That means there’s a high chance that there are a lot of people I don’t know.

So, I convinced Valentine enough before starting the journey.

The dangers of alien species, the extreme environments that even I cannot guarantee, the unique madness that flows through the eroded zone, etc.

Valentine was indeed a man of destruction.

“Let’s do it.”

Even after hearing about numerous dangers, his expression did not change.

“What more can I do than die?”

I thought it would be rude not to take him with me, since his intentions were so firm.

But since it was clearly a dangerous mission, I made my own preparations.

“Is there anyone you would like to hear from if something bad happens?”

Realistically, I think I have a better chance of surviving than Valentine.

It’s shameful, but true, that when Valentine and I are in the same danger, I have no choice but to prioritize myself.

Even with Woo Min-hee’s assistance, the fact that it is a dangerous mission does not change.

“······well.”

Valentine rolled his eyes.

A thoughtful expression.

After a while, he opened his mouth.

“I have a wife. She might be dead by now.”

“Are you married?”

“It was a long time ago. We were already divided before the war.”

“ah.”

“It’s okay. It’s because we both did something wrong that we broke up. But since we confirmed that she was still alive until Park Penguin left, there’s a chance that she’ll still be alive. But it seems like she’s living with another man right now.”

Valentine smiled vaguely.

“But he’s my ex-husband. If I can send him a obituary, it wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

“That won’t happen.”

I took a picture.

This is a solo photo of Valentine.

He was pictured with our territory in the background, smiling awkwardly and making a V sign.

It was a light point that Suu passed by in the distance and glanced this way.

“Aren’t you going to take pictures, Mr. Skeleton?”

“Me?”

He smiled broadly.