Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 359



Only Krnovel

Episode 365 149. Long-term (1)

According to a recent rumor on the Internet, a game called madman’s chess is popular. Unlike regular chess, one side uses all the chess pieces according to the rules of regular chess, while the other side uses only one king. Naturally, this is not a good game, so the side with only the king applies special rules.

That is, the one king can use the movements of all kinds of pieces such as tea, pot, table, horse, and pawn, and can move twice in one turn. Since this rule is too advantageous to one side, two special rules are given for players who use multiple pieces.

One is that you can freely change the arrangement of your own pieces before the start, and the other is that you can decide the end time of the game. Usually, the end time is set to 8 turns, and the structure is that you win if the opponent does not capture the king within 8 turns.

After the war, when there were no more things to do, Janggi naturally became popular. However, as the world is like that, there were not enough Janggi pieces, so it came out as a last resort. Also, because it was fun in its own way, it became popular in the provinces and later spread throughout the country. I have never been very interested in games as a form of entertainment, and Janggi is no exception.

I learned the rules from Jang Gi-yeong, but that was all. I had never played Janggi with anyone, and I thought I would never do so. An unexpected fate brought me to the Janggi board.

* A man has been on everyone’s lips lately. – In the past, there was a strange man in Seoul named John the Baptist.

– He was an unpredictable human being with an appearance that made it impossible to guess his age and brightly shining eyes. Those who were baptized by him surprisingly gained the power of Awaken. – During the time when Seoul was maintained, many parents secretly ordered him to baptize their children, and as a result, many children went to Jeju with their parents.

This is information I didn’t know. Of course, it was never posted on the bulletin board and no one told me about it. However, it is said to be one of the famous urban legends among regular Awakeners.

“John the Baptist?”

Now, Seung-Hwan Ahn, who was working with me, also knew that name.

“I’ve heard of it. I’ve actually seen kids who claim to have been baptized by him.”

However, as you can see from the fact that he took notice when he mentioned the name John the Baptist, he is an extremely dangerous person. This is because it was discovered that a certain person called John the Baptist was suspected of being the leader of a cult. The suspicion is further strengthened by the fact that many of the regular Awaken testimonies that said they saw the man in person said that the man had a North Korean accent.

Of course, it is difficult to understand that the act of “baptism” can cause the Awaken, a mutation that cannot be explained by human knowledge. It is said that the Awaken phenomenon is more likely to occur if there is a strong Awaken – level 10 or higher – nearby, but that itself is not very credible, and it is not even called baptism when there is one nearby.

If baptism was possible right now, Kang Han-min and Na Hye-in would have already created 100,000 regular Awakens in Jeju. The city legend-like figure is once again on people’s lips through the Internet. At first, a person claiming to be John the Baptist appeared on the Necropolis, and then on the Viva! Apocalypse! bulletin board and posted.

Deadman76311: Do you want to be an Awaken too? The content was simple. It was just a picture of a man with eyes glowing softly in the dark, looking into the empty space, like an I am Jesus, and a line of text written below.

– You can be one too. Look for “John.”

“I think my senior has done something great. Really. In many ways.” The first person to tell me this fact was none other than Woo Min-hee.

“Thanks to you, John the Baptist has reappeared in the world. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but he’s the only person on the red wanted list since the war.”

“Only one? Who is the other one?”

“I know he was involved in an embezzlement case, but I can’t remember. He’s not that important anymore.” In the past, Woo Min-hee was tasked with recruiting Awaken among the millions of refugees gathered in Seoul. Being in that position, he knows a lot about a person called John the Baptist.

“In a word, he is a mad scientist.” The character of John the Baptist that Woo Min-hee talks about is a very common devil living in reality. He lures people in with hope and then steals and discards the fruits.

“You tricked the parents into making your child a proud Awaken. I don’t know how you did it, but it’s true that the child who passed through John the Baptist developed some Awaken characteristics.”

“Really?” Honestly, he was surprised. Woo Min-hee nodded and continued speaking with a sigh.

“But the end was always disaster. After that, the child’s condition worsened rapidly. The child’s parents had no choice but to go to John the Baptist. He had told them in advance that if the child was sick, they should definitely come to him.”

“The ending is obvious.”

“When you go to find that person, that person kidnaps the child and the parents as if he had been waiting for you and takes them somewhere.”

“Where did you write it?”

“Well, we didn’t find the body. But we did find a few organs in his hideout that we hadn’t disposed of yet. They were probably taken from the victims.”

“Oh, like that.”

“There’s a rumor that there was actually a human being who studied Awaken in North Korea. It’s not even a country, but they do things like human experiments on people.”

“······Really?” I have a lot to say, but I’ll hold back. At least Woo Min-hee is not free from the suspicion of vivisection. However, the fact that she openly expresses her antipathy makes it seem that the immorality of the vivisection committed by John the Baptist is much higher than what she did.

“When I moved to Incheon, I cast a net to catch John the Baptist, but there was no one who seemed to be John the Baptist among those who came to Incheon. There was no record of his activities after that. I thought he was dead. But it seems he was still alive.” The reason Woo Min-hee called me was to provide information. Along with the notice of such a dangerous person, there was also a little gratitude toward me for providing the conditions for such a person to appear.

“Thanks to my senior, I was able to confirm that person’s activities again. I guess it’s thanks to my senior’s sincere passion for the Internet.”

“While we’re on the subject, would it be okay to write something along those lines?”

“what?”

“With the content that Skeleton brought Necropolis.” Woo Min-hee is a journalist. A journalist is a user like a media outlet that has some degree of trust. If she speaks well of me, wouldn’t my reputation, even though I’m already a named person, improve even more?

“We are still investigating what relationship the Necropolis waves have with monsters.”

“Can you write it down for me? I can write it and send it to you and then upload it to your account. I think you can do that much, right?”

“I’m a little skeptical that the results will be good.” As expected, Woo Min-hee. She chews on my words so cruelly.

“Anyway, I have to go to the next town. Get well soon.”

“······.” If her heart had been kind, she wouldn’t be wearing such dangerous devices as prosthetic arms and legs. Anyway, while I was in the hospital, the relocation work was steadily progressing. The sweeping team consisting of regular Awakens and general-special Awakens restored the power plant, and the specialists that Woo Min-hee brought quickly restored the infrastructure.

As soon as the power plant was confirmed to be operating normally, the new Seoul government, under the direction of Kim Byung-chul, began moving refugees. Moving people was not difficult.

People were willing to take risks just because they had electricity and heat, the two necessities for survival. They were not the frail, dragged-on refugees of the past.

They are armed, small groups, and capable of defending themselves and their families if necessary. The harsh experiences after the war have given them the ability to make quick decisions.

The calculation was that the sooner I got there, the better position I would be able to secure. As the relocation work was going smoothly, there wasn’t much for me to do.

With the cooperation of the regular Awaken and the general and special hunters, the purpose of Woo Min-hee bringing me has been achieved eight-tenths of the time, and all that’s left is to create a linkage doctrine between the regular Awaken and other hunters. It’s not for nothing that Woo Min-hee pushed me, a minor patient, into the hospital. Given her personality, if she needed me, she would have pushed me into the mission even if I was in a wheelchair. Tiring- She is communicating with the Hunter Headquarters through the recently restored wireless communication network.

The people I mostly contact are frontline hunters. When they submit reports, I review them and provide my opinions.

There is still a wall between the regular Awaken and the rest of the Hunters, but so far, things are going well without any major problems. Above all, it is said that the regular Awaken are showing active movements.

I may have my share of the blame here, but according to Kim Da-ram, the real reason why the regular Awakens are moving lies elsewhere.

“There’s talk that elites will be coming from Jeju soon.” They say that it’s not the fallen Awaken, but the frontline Awaken who fought in the rift until the end. When they come, the regular Awaken who proudly display the sign that they are the main will be reduced to a pitiful state.

“They’re also being swindled. They’re going to lose not only their real rice bowls, but even their dog food bowls.” Well, you have to take the words of a snobbish, worldly person like Kim Da-ram with a grain of salt. People like this always have thorns in their lips.

Should we call it the goal of speech? The petty bourgeois mindset of somehow trying to bring down the other person and raise oneself appears in all words and actions. It’s like a rusty pipe boiling molten iron.

What she wants to say is that Ahn Seung-hwan’s gang would have moved on without me. That’s why he can feel like his status as a failure is being restored a little by dragging me down. Whether or not such words actually benefit these philistines is not really important. Their own feelings at the time are more important to them. That’s why they seem to live longer and more safely than others.

“I see······. How are your doctor husband and Dong-tak doing······?”

“Why are you talking like that? Are you doing well? Ah.” Kim Da-ram sighed as if he remembered something.

“My husband has been having a lot of worries lately.”

“why?”

“Because of my friend Hong Jeong-ho. You know that guy with the dirty goatee, glasses, and nonsense. Ha······.”

“Heo Jong-cheol?”

“Oh, right. I forgot. That bastard.” Judging from the fact that Kim Da-ram referred to him as that bastard, it’s 100% true. He harbored resentment.

“Oh, well, it’s a personal matter. You don’t have to worry about it, senior. We’re doing well among ourselves, so just focus on your treatment.” After finishing up the conversation with Kim Da-ram, I lay down blankly for a while, fiddling with my tablet, when the nurse came in.

“A person named Hong Jeong-ho has requested an interview?” Defender came to meet him. Naturally, he accepted. After a while, two others came in. The other one, of course, was Da-jeong.

“Skeleton! Long time no see!” Hong Da-jeong’s face unexpectedly looked fine. Her complexion was better than when she was in my area, and she had even gained weight.

“Oh. Okay. How are you?”

“It’s much better than that. The food here is also good.” Defender placed a gift on the table. It was a can of pineapple.

Suddenly, I thought of Suu. She would be very happy if I gave her this. I chatted with my friends whom I had not seen for a long time.

It was a trivial story, but the very situation of talking about it gave me a small sense of satisfaction. I guess it was the joy of being able to share the past and share my current thoughts through that past. While we were talking, Da-jeong suddenly made a surprise attack.

“By the way, Skeleton. You. I heard there was a rumor that you and the chief were having an affair.”

“?” If it weren’t for Da-jeong, I would have retorted, “What the hell are you talking about?”

“What is that expression?”

“······I’ve known Min-hee for a long time, but we’ve never been close. She was on a different team to begin with. She came to my team temporarily, but it was on a dispatch basis and we weren’t that personally connected.”

“Hmm. Really?” Hong Da-jeong shrugged her shoulders with an indifferent expression, as if she didn’t believe what I was saying.

“If that’s the case, then it must be like that.”

“No matter how much I want a woman, she has no arms or legs······.”

“Wait a minute!” Defender, who had been listening silently, stopped me.

“That’s too far out of line, Skeleton.”

“······.” It’s a bit odd to be criticized by a psychopath, but it’s true. I admit it. It seems that I was emotionally agitated in a way that is not typical of me. You can tell by the way I’m brazenly making statements that cross the line. It’s definitely not because I held a grudge because Woo Min-hee ignored my suggestion.

“I found out when you habitually tease me on the Internet.” Hong Da-jeong glanced at me and smirked.

“Your face is fine.”

“······Anyway, that’s what I think.” There was a bit of noise, but then the idle talk continued. In the process, an unexpected person was mentioned again.

“Do you know a guy named John the Baptist?” It was Defender who brought up the topic.

“John the Baptist?” Why, I don’t know. He’s the most controversial person I’ve heard of recently. I also know he’s active on the internet. However, during the Seoul government, it was a name that only circulated among a small group of parents who wanted to make Awaken their child, so no articles calling themselves John the Baptist ever made it to the popular posts. Viva! Apocalypse! I, the oldest and named user, don’t know, so how many people would know?

“I’ve heard the name vaguely. But why are you suddenly bringing up that guy’s story?”

“Do you remember Heo Jong-cheol?”

“Oh, that guy. Now that I think about it, Kim Da-ram was talking about that guy too.” Then Hong Da-jeong burst out laughing and joined in the conversation.

“Kim Da-ram’s husband said. He’s been feeling inferior to Jong-cheol lately.”

“why?”

“Patients are ignoring other specialists and only looking for Jong-cheol. Rumors have spread throughout the hospital that Jong-cheol is more courageous and has better eyesight.”

“······Really?” It’s hard to understand why Heo Jong-cheol, who was nothing more than a quack, is braver than Kim Da-ram’s husband, who is the elite of the elites. But if you think about it carefully, isn’t it because of Heo Jong-cheol’s clairvoyance? No matter how much knowledge and study you accumulate, you won’t be able to judge the condition as well as someone with clairvoyance like Heo Jong-cheol, who can examine the human body in more detail and vividly than a CT scan. Even for an internal medicine treatment, you have to mobilize all kinds of cutting-edge equipment like ultrasound, CT, and MRI to obtain information about the inside of the body that is difficult for ordinary people to even see, but our Heo Jong-cheol can see the human body without such equipment. As the knowledge and clinical experience of someone with such abilities accumulate, ordinary people might lose their place. Just like how our old school hunters fell when Awaken appeared in the past.

“Anyway, that Jong-cheol guy. He recently examined a person who was baptized by John the Baptist.” Defender regained his composure in the chaotic atmosphere. Defender continued, habitually twirling the knife that had probably been used to kill several people on his fingertips.

“That patient looks like he’s been awakened.”