Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 339



Only Krnovel

Episode 340 136. Candle (4)

“All right.”

Valentine took off his communicator.

I bowed my head in gratitude for his wise choice.

We exchanged a brief glance and reaffirmed our trust in each other.

“But what do we do now? We need to retrieve the meter.”

“Don’t you have the data?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I give up.”

I looked around.

I know there’s no real danger right now, but I did it just for show.

“You never know when something might happen here. If those big guys you see right now recognize us as enemies, our chances of survival are very slim.”

I didn’t lie.

It’s time to go back.

“Once there was a protest. The hospital staff locked the door and blocked the angry patients and their guardians. I could see a kangaroo standing alone on the other side of the closed door and glass window.”

Still I listen to the fanatics’ conversation.

This is to understand the psychology of mentally unstable fanatics in real time and deal with it.

As we went down the slope, the fanatic’s figure soon disappeared over the slope.

At the same time, the ominous sight of the monsters and cracks looming before us slowly disappeared below the ridge.

“People were demanding that we get rid of that smelly, dirty, unknown animal. Was this the hospital director’s personal enclosure? I was standing in the middle of the crowd, and I saw the kangaroo’s face beyond the crowd. When I saw it, it turned its head toward me as if it were a lie.”

The fanatic continued to spout nonsense.

Are you still holding onto hope for missionary work?

What’s more strange is that the monster doesn’t attack even though you’re talking like that.

“It will disappear soon.”

A soldier known as Shin Hyung-taek spoke from behind.

“It’s a last-ditch effort. Even candles burn fiercely just before they go out.”

I don’t know much about it.

I have never served in an eroded area, nor have I observed the ecology of the people left there.

He’s much younger than me, but what he says might be right.

He had probably seen people disappear into the monster’s long, winding tunnels dozens of times, resembling fossils of this giant snake.

If I had a personal chance, I would ask, but I probably wouldn’t get that chance.

Shin Hyeong-tae looked at Valentine with concern.

“But that candle is contagious. I’m worried. I wonder if that person will be affected by that candle.”

At that the fanatic laughed.

I don’t want to admit it, but it was a clear and refreshing smile without a single wrinkle.

“The kangaroo smiled. No, it seemed to be forcing a smile. It was using muscles in its pelvis that it didn’t really use, to try to smile at people who were angry at it.”

Song Yu-jin, who was walking ahead, turned off the radio by pressing the radio switch.

It seems she decided it wasn’t worth listening to anymore.

Shin Hyung-taek and Kim Ji-su, who were following behind, also turned off their radios.

Before we knew it, we were coming down the steep slope.

In the distance, I can see the end of a tunnel that winds like a snake.

I guess we can turn off communication now.

But suddenly, Byun-deok raised his head and stood up, stopping the hand that was trying to turn off the switch.

It was a pointless story, but I wanted to hear the ending.

I wanted to hear until the end what that woman, who looked just like us but was different from us, had to say.

As Shin Hyung-taek said, I guess I wanted to see the flickering flames before they went out.

“From that moment on, I began to see the human heart.”

I looked around.

No one responds.

I’m the only one who heard this story.

I’ve heard that there is an Awaken who can read people’s minds.

It’s not a high level awakened.

I heard that it occurs very rarely during low-level Awakening.

However, it is said that reading that mind is no different from a person with 0.1 eyesight looking at an eye test chart without glasses.

Just as people with poor eyesight can read the largest numbers or symbols, they can read a large directional sign but cannot read the smaller symbols lined up below.

Because their numbers were so small and their ability to verify such an ability was difficult, the mind-reading Awaken soon fell out of the interest of research institutions.

This tendency may have been fueled by the fact that people with abilities that require them to go into the field, such as the ability to sense, lie about having the ability to read minds because they don’t want to go into the field.

“Of course I can see your hearts too.”

Before the fanatic had even finished speaking.

Whew Whew Whew Whew——

A strange, loud noise, the likes of which I had never heard before, reverberated across the ridge.

It’s the crack side.

The moment I thought about that, my mind suddenly felt like it had turned white.

“······Ugh!”

For a moment, the world seemed to flash.

There was no light.

I just lost consciousness.

This isn’t just happening to me.

“Ugh! Ugh!”

“Wow······! Woof!!!!”

There is a retching sound coming from the front and the back.

It’s an Awaken together.

The scene before my eyes was Song Yu-jin holding her neck with both hands and painfully vomiting up stomach acid.

The only ones who are sane are me and Valentine.

A thought crossed my mind.

wave.

So, the wave of the crack itself.

At that moment, the communicator rang.

“Everyone has a closed mind like a closed box, but your hearts were wide open.”

He is a fanatic.

“So I went closer.”

I ignored her and approached Song Yu-jin to check her condition.

“are you okay?”

“Ah, ahhh······.”

Song Yu-jin’s eyes are open.

It looks like he was shocked beyond my imagination.

Fortunately, her dilated pupils slowly return to normal.

She trembled and muttered while being supported by me.

“Fuck······I want to get out of here······.”

A teardrop ran down the disciple’s wounded cheek.

Soon she recognizes me and looks slightly surprised.

I pretended not to know and looked at my other friends.

“Are you okay? There?”

“I have to go quickly.”

The new form ran past me, wiping its mouth, which was covered in vomit.

“The cracks began to roar.”

“The crack roars······?”

“It’s a concept that was recently discovered. It’s probably related to the movement toward Jeju Island, but I don’t have time to explain it. Let’s go! The monsters will start erupting soon.”

I nodded and followed.

There are things moving beyond your sight.

A person, no, a fanatic.

Those who had been lying motionless like monsters suddenly came to life and began to run hurriedly towards the crack in their shabby clothes.

I have no intention of understanding this scene of madness, much less of explaining it.

The one who stopped me was my friend, Valentine.

He stands still, not moving.

“Valentine?”

Valentine was looking at the tablet.

“Valentine?!”

The moment I approached him, the radio rang again.

“That kangaroo thought of it as home.”

I turned off the communicator.

“?”

No, it doesn’t turn off.

Did that strong wave just now cause the device to malfunction?

Even as he ignored her and approached Valentine, the fanatic continued to chattering.

“He thought of the entire building as the mother’s pouch that gave birth to him. That’s why, even though he was being brutally tortured, he could force a smile and crawl to his room, which was only accessible by stepping on those two beer crates when the sun went down.”

Click click click

I kept pressing the switch.

“iced coffee.”

I also tried the mic.

There is no problem.

A little bit disabled.

“But you know, what would that kangaroo do if it had a real plain, an unfenced plain where it could run around freely, instead of a small, shabby, and full of bad people hospital?”

Fortunately, I didn’t have to hear the fanatic’s answer.

I managed to turn off the communicator.

“Valentine.”

Valentine was still looking at the tablet.

The tablet connected to the fanatic’s measuring equipment was drawing graphs in real time that were extraordinary even to my untrained eyes.

Valentine raised his head.

“Mr. Skeleton!”

I looked into his eyes.

For a moment, I was struck by doubt.

I wonder if this person had such sparkling, confident eyes.

“Mr. Skeleton. Look at these numbers!”

He showed me the tablet.

“What is it?”

“This is not an ordinary thing.”

“You have to go now.”

“This is a huge discovery. It’s a discovery much bigger than the Necropolis developers knew!”

“······.”

I kept my mouth shut.

He won’t know what the graph means.

He said it with his own mouth.

He said that he did not know or understand how the data and graphs provided by Dead Man Walking worked, how they worked, and what they were trying to measure.

“ha ha ha.”

He is now showing contradictory behavior that is diametrically opposed to what he did then.

“I think I know. I think I know!”

“What are you trying to do?”

“I have to go now.”

Valentine turned around, his eyes still sparkling.

I grabbed his shoulder and forced him to stop with a little emotion.

“Where to?”

“Over there!”

Despite the show of force, Valentine looked unfazed.

A creepy assumption reared its head.

“······.”

Are you crazy?

Did the roar of that crack just now send your soul flying out?

It’s a common occurrence.

An inexperienced person who receives the wave of a high-ranking Awaken from close range will go crazy and lose their mind.

It’s a well-known fact, but I didn’t want this to happen to anyone around me or to the people I love.

“If you go, you die.”

He let out a deep sigh and lowered his head.

“Please, don’t go.”

It is rare for someone to be unreasonable.

It was something I had never done since I begged my family, who were no longer breathing after being killed by a monster, to please survive.

I, who thought I had let go of everything, am resorting to such stubbornness.

A rough, rough, yet warm hand took my hand.

“I’m afraid of dying too.”

It’s Valentine’s Day.

The moment I raised my head, I saw his face.

He was laughing.

As always, kind and gentle.

When I was confronted with that laughter, I had to adjust my thinking.

It was as difficult to accept as admitting he was crazy.

“But since the war began, there has never been a time when I wasn’t prepared to die.”

He is in his right mind.

It was entirely my imagination and perhaps even wishful thinking that he was crazy.

“That woman alone won’t do. There’s something I want to adjust. This is for sure. It will be a great discovery that will be remembered in human history.”

“Didn’t you say that you didn’t know anything about that transmission, Mr. Valentine?”

“That’s right. But then suddenly I think I know. The moment I experience it! Something flashed in my head! That dead man walking. Didn’t that bastard have a similar experience?”

“······.”

“This defies all laws known to man. I can’t explain it, but I think I’ll just have to see it. I think I’ll know only after seeing it with my own eyes, feeling it, and touching it!”

A scream was heard.

“Instructor Park Gyu!”

Song Yu-jin gestures loudly in front.

Shin Hyeong-tae and his party were already moving forward.

Looking at them, Valentine said earnestly.

“Please let me do it.”

“······Valentine.”

“Please.”

Valentine bowed his head.

“I don’t want to live as a plus alpha or sub forever.”

“······.”

Is that what you meant?

The story the fanatic told.

Of course I don’t believe the fanatics’ nonsense.

However, I just understood the feelings of my colleague and friend, Valentine.

He handed me a tablet on Valentine’s Day.

“I think we need to take care of that girl’s equipment. There’s some data that needs to be measured.”

“······great.”

Who would want to be a supporting actor?

Who would want to be an extra?

There was a time when we all believed that we were the main characters of this world.

“Promise me you’ll come back.”

“I can’t make any promises, though.”

This guy must be like that too.

“I’ll tell you the real me that I’ve kept hidden. I don’t think you’ll be curious because I’m such a worthless person, but I still want to tell you.”

Valentine turned on the communicator and ran forward.

I turned on the communicator and waited for him to speak.

“My real name is Kim Byeong-seon.”

Move forward.

Leaving behind friends who will never return.

Follow the living at a fast pace.

“I made money through the webhard business. It eventually went out of business due to torrents, but I made a decent amount of money before I was summoned by the police for distributing obscene materials.”

Shock waves echoed behind the ridge.

It looks like the eruption has begun.

Legions of monsters will probably be appearing one after another, out of sight of us.

“It’s a miserable life, isn’t it? I knew it.”

“So I tried to do something. So I met Jonnaenon, created PaleNet, and maintained it.”

“······And yet, I’m not the main character. But now, my chance has come!”

“Wow! That woman is still alive! Whoa! There are so many monsters coming out! I’m a little scared, but what could I possibly be worse than that woman? I’m going now! Keep an eye on your tablet!”

*

It’s something that will happen in the near future.

[ F. Sawyer, M. O’Connor, Byung-sun K and For the Lovely Red ]

[ Welcome to the noisy city of death . ]

– If you are dead, press enter –

Minor changes have been made to the entrance text for the Necropolis.

“Senior. There’s a guy named Byungseon in Necropolis. Is that the guy you said came with you?”

He answered Woo Min-hee, who contacted him via walkie-talkie.

“huh.”

“Hmm.”

“why?”

“Because you don’t seem like a senior.”

“what?”

“Didn’t you go there to carve your senior’s name?”

“well.”

“You never know what’s going on in this world. Eugene clearly said that the man was burned down by the spark from the candle.”

Candles can transmit fire.

By sharing the flame between the wicks of different candles.

When I think about it, it’s true that the fanatic woman provided the flame for the new candle called Valentine.

But candles don’t just convey sparks.

Candles also provide a little warmth and a darkening light.

I see the light.

Dead Man 423: Viva pups, it’s been a while!

Dead Man 139: Hey, these kids are still tenacious. Aren’t you out of food?

Dead3215: Is it true that this winter is cold?

Dead Man 471: Dongtan Mom is dead······?

Deadman8821: Kkiyahou~~~~~!!

Dead118231: I’m a 42 year old male. I don’t listen to others and I like to drink and get angry easily. I’m looking for someone to raise me.

Dead3321: Hehehehehehehehehehehehehe

Deadman7723: Is that fucking boring kid still around? The skeleton thing.

…

…

Necropolis and Viva! Apocalypse! are connected.

Two worlds that seemed like they would run parallel forever are connected.

There are still many hurdles to overcome and things to be overcome, but these are problems that will have to be solved slowly and gradually.

A routine has been created.

“······.”

Knock knock

Dead Man 118 (KOR): Looking for the wife of Mr. Kim Byeong-seon, the president of a webhard company.

Dead Man 118 (KOR): Mr. Kim Byeong-seon said he has something to say to his wife. If you see this message, please reply immediately. I will go anywhere.

Since Valentine disappeared, I have been logging into Necropolis every day to find his wife.

I have a photo to send you.