Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 372



Only Krnovel

Hiding the House in the Apocalypse Episode 378

153. Paper Boat (1)

The end of the year has finally arrived.

Most people, including me, expected that the real cold weather would begin now.

As is always the case with weather forecasts, the predictions were spectacularly wrong.

The midday temperature soared to 22 degrees with the uselessly bright sun rising.

As the snow melted, the roads became a mess, and the half-melted ice mixed with the dirt, further ruining the already unappealing appearance of the city.

But what has really gotten worse is the new Seoul air.

“Who is in charge? Is it Kim Byeong-cheol? Is it Woo Min-hee? This time, it won’t just go away.”

“Reveal the name of the person in charge! I’m sick of committees and task force stuff! Who’s the boss here? Reveal the name!”

There are protests in the streets.

Although small groups of protesters have always been stationed in front of government buildings and staged demonstrations, they were few in number and without any means of civilization like amplifiers, they could only shout with their voices, so they were not very noticeable.

As the weather got warmer, the number of people increased.

Most of them were probably just bystanders, but there were quite a few people who went up to the protesters and joined them, either because they were good at talking or because they had a lot of accumulated grievances.

“It’s a chronic disease in South Korea.”

I’m in an armored car right now.

The destination is my bunker.

It’s true that I have an important job in the new Seoul, but my house is on fire.

Ha Tae-hoon says that it is a situation where only threats are received, but it would be better to see the situation with your own eyes.

Before heading to the bunker, I met the Defender siblings briefly for a cup of tea. Defender didn’t say much, but Hong Da-jeong sneered and guessed the situation with her characteristically cynical tone.

“It won’t be a problem.”

I asked her.

“What does that mean?”

“Literally. Nothing will happen. It’s the place you chose, Skeleton. It’s a place where you won’t be noticed as long as you don’t do any stupid things. Then a warlord shows up and does something or other~ blah blah~”

Hong Da-jeong chuckled and continued speaking with a smile on her face.

“That’s a full-blown lie.”

Hong Da-jeong looked towards the defender.

“What do you think, brother?”

The defender sighed and answered a beat later.

“It’s not necessarily a place where the remnants of the Legion faction would attack. At best, they could find a reason to use it as a defensive position, but there are higher and more rugged mountains nearby. It’s not like there are any places with strategic significance nearby. At best, there’s an airport, but does an airport have any strategic significance in this world?”

The defender added, putting down his teacup.

“The remnants of the Legion Faction search the surrounding area. If there’s nothing to search for, they go to places where people are. They’re not so helpless that they’d go to places where no one lives for no reason.”

Judging from the fact that he made eye contact with Hong Da-jeong every now and then, it seemed like he had something else to say.

Soon, Hong Da-jeong spoke about the siblings’ shared thoughts.

“This may just be my guess, you know.”

Hong Da-jeong continued speaking with a sly smile.

“Could it be that there was a fight among the remaining people?”

“okay?”

“Everyone gathered there. They all gathered because of Skeleton. Without Skeleton as the glue, they would all be strangers. Even without bringing up our story, the Incheon Hunters aren’t on good terms.”

“what?”

This is the first time I’ve heard of it.

It seems like Bang Jae-hyuk, Ha Tae-hoon, and Cheon Young-jae aren’t on good terms.

Well, we’re not on good terms.

Still, they seemed to be close enough to rely on each other, at least enough to be able to trust each other’s backs.

Above all, wasn’t there a center of gravity between them?

“There’s also senior Ha Tae-hoon.”

That’s Ha Tae-hoon.

He doesn’t have any noticeable charisma and he himself dislikes such spotlights, but at least he is a man with his thoughts in order.

Before meeting me, the reason Bang Jae-hyeok and Cheon Young-jae, who have strong personalities, were able to be together was probably thanks to his eccentric personality.

But when Hong Da-jeong heard what I said, she burst into laughter.

“That human?”

It’s not just Hong Da-jeong.

There is a strange smile on Defender’s lips.

“······.”

Is there something I don’t know?

Hong Da-jeong turned her chair toward the computer.

“That’s for Skeleton to decide. Anyway, I’ll keep my mouth shut. I have to think about my image too. A woman who goesssips about men isn’t popular, right?”

The defender nodded in agreement.

“of course.”

The Defender siblings’ opinions are interesting, but they are just opinions.

If, as Hong Da-jeong predicted, there was a conflict in my territory due to personal relationships, it would most likely be a conflict between Rebecca and her daughter and the rest of the Hunters.

I should have contacted you from time to time, but I was so absorbed in new things in Seoul that I couldn’t get in touch.

Maybe, I just wasn’t interested.

Since my school days, I have been the type of person who only shows interest and focuses on what I do.

Even if it becomes a little harmful, human nature is unlikely to change.

Still, since I have earned some money from the country and have made some achievements, I can return to the bunker with my own armored vehicle and armed troops.

You could call it a return to glory.

Its practicality is also excellent.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Someone fired at the armored vehicle.

The gunshot sounded odd, suggesting that it was either not a proper gun or that it was using faulty ammunition, but even so, one of the rounds could be heard bouncing off the armor plate of the armored vehicle.

Ting!

“You little bastards!”

The driver swore coolly.

The soldier sitting there snickered and spoke to me.

“As people gathered, the security situation deteriorated. Those who were protesting earlier were actually noblemen. There are quite a few who could not adapt to a solid life in the city and stayed on the outskirts of the city, returning to being looters.”

The armored vehicle did not respond with any fire.

He said that it was not a big threat and that it was a waste of bullets to use them against such a mayfly, but to me, who knew the situation in Seoul, the truth was clear.

Even soldiers are running low on ammunition now.

There may be enough reserves to fight several battles, but there is no next step.

Machine tools stored in government warehouses are making the ammunition they need, but the new ammunition, even if made with proper machine tools, appears to be of poor quality.

It is said that among the soldiers who are waging a war to eradicate fanatics, there is a joke, not really a joke, going around that if things continue like this, they too will have to use judge killers.

There were no other incidents following the shooting, which was similar to a happening.

I headed to a familiar place along a familiar road.

Road conditions, a late departure, and a number of other events meant I arrived in my area around dusk.

“grow.”

As soon as we sent a communication via radio, the gate in the barrier opened.

Something is strange.

It’s not like a shell fell on my territory or my winter house burned down or anything like that.

There is an absolute shortage of people who should be on the other side of the door.

“Park Gyu!”

There was only one person left in my area, waving at me.

It’s Ha Tae-hoon.

Maybe it was the shadow cast by the sunset, but his face looked older and more tired than I remembered.

*

Next to the winter house, a neatly built new house was nearing its final stages of construction.

This is Ha Tae-hoon’s house.

He, who used to say that Koreans should live in reinforced concrete structures, started making them little by little during the time I was there.

To cut to the chase, no one in my area died.

Everything is fine.

However, each of them left my territory for their own reasons.

“I’m sorry for lying. The truth is, there was no such thing as a remnant of the Legion.”

Ha Tae-hoon bowed his head to me in an embarrassed manner while the soldiers watched.

“I’m sorry, Park Gyu. I’m really sorry. I didn’t think I could protect this place alone. I had no choice but to contact you through the chief.”

“······What happened?”

I kind of know the reason.

It must be a people problem.

But it’s quite shocking that the organization could be torn apart like this in just under three months since I left.

Even if you don’t get along well, didn’t you create an atmosphere where you acknowledge and tolerate each other?

I believed so.

But it’s a little hard to accept that that trust can be broken so easily.

As expected.

There were circumstances I didn’t know about.

“······I got a girl.”

It was Suu who discovered the woman.

To be exact, it was a man and a woman.

It is said that both of them were wearing thick winter clothes, tied a rope around their waists to a sled, and were crossing the snowy field with various household items loaded onto the sled.

The man and woman crossing the shallow snowfield were probably headed to Sejong.

It was a miniature version of the usual refugee procession, but this time with a twist.

“I thought he was a marauder when I saw the tattooed man on his forehead, and he really was. We’ll discuss that later, but the way he took the woman was not good. The woman didn’t want to go, but he would raise his fists and yell at her and take her away. The woman would cry.”

Just by listening, a series of stories are reconstructed.

Perhaps he liked a woman among the women he had kept as sex slaves in the hideout of the marauders, and he tried to sneak her out and run away to Sejong with her.

Such adventures, however, usually do not end well.

“It would have been better if she had just gone her own way, but the woman said she couldn’t go any further and sat down, and the man, whose mind was ruined by drugs, suddenly lost his mind and started beating the woman up like a dog. The American kid couldn’t stand it any longer and told us about it, and Bang Jae-hyuk shot her.”

Ha Tae-hoon smiled bitterly.

“I hit the balls. The man fell over, clutching his groin, and bled to death on the white snow, crying like a cow. Cheon Yeong-jae and I brought the woman here.”

Ha Tae-hoon slumped and shrugged his shoulders.

“But you know what the problem is?”

Looking at Ha Tae-hoon’s bitter face, I think I know the reason.

“The girl had a pretty cute face.”

It’s exactly as I thought.

“She was a beauty.”

Here, beauty does not only refer to women.

People who can appeal to others sexually through their appearance change their surroundings regardless of their will.

In a developed society, this would lead to positive change, but in a society where everything is in decline like today, it would be the seed of conflict.

There’s a reason why Diesirae doesn’t accept beauties into his organization.

At the company I used to work for, which was like a family, there was a beautiful accountant. I once saw two low-level employees who were not even worth anything get into a fistfight while drinking over the accountant, who was the CEO’s lover, because they were fighting over useless things without anyone thinking about giving her money.

I never imagined that something similar would happen in my field.

“Cheon Yeong-jae moved first.”

“Youngjae?”

Ha Tae-hoon nodded his head with a weak smile.

“He’s been a bit starved for affection since a long time ago. He’s been treated and hurt like that, and it’s endless, tsk.”

Ha Tae-hoon’s smile disappeared as he clicked his tongue coldly.

“Like a horny dog.”

It seems that the trust between Ha Tae-hoon and Cheon Young-jae has been broken in this incident.

“Cheon Yeong-jae reached out to the woman first. It was something that shouldn’t have happened to the woman, but as a woman who survived in that group with her body, the woman easily gave her body to Cheon Yeong-jae.”

“······Was there another story?”

Ha Tae-hoon sighed and nodded.

“But the person that woman really liked was Bang Jae-hyuk.”

“Bang Jae-hyuk?”

“Jaehuk is very popular. He’s incomparable to Youngjae. Honestly, out of all our hunters, he’s probably the most popular with the ladies.”

“Honestly, am I not more handsome?”

“I guess you could call it a unique atmosphere. The kind of fantasy that women just love. He was popular even before he hurt his leg, but even after he hurt his leg, women kept coming to him.”

“okay?”

“Surprisingly, it’s true.”

“How is my mood?”

Ha Tae-hoon stared at me blankly, then quickly turned away and continued speaking.

“Professor. Professor.”

“?”

“Anyway, that’s not important. That woman was flirting with Bang Jae-hyuk. Normally, Bang Jae-hyuk wouldn’t have even glanced at her, but he didn’t know it, but he must have felt lonely. He just hugged her. What happened after that is up to your imagination.”

Ha Tae-hoon got up from his seat.

“Because of that, I’m thinking of leaving this place now.”

“Where are the rest?”

“Bang Jae-hyeok went to the detached house apartment across the mountain village, and Cheon Yeong-jae is stuck in the corner of the house where he used to live. The mother and daughter of the American soldiers went to the neighborhood next to Cheon Yeong-jae.”

“That woman?”

For some reason, Ha Tae-hoon avoided my gaze for that question.

It was only a moment, but amidst the obvious signs of abnormality, my senior looked at me with his usual expression and continued speaking.

“Dead.”

I thought for a moment.

There must have been a reason for that death.

As expected.

“Stay alive.”

Rebecca answered through the communicator.

“She’s alive. She followed me to the room.”

Here is the truth that Rebecca revealed:

Ha Tae-hoon lusted after the woman, and eventually attacked her when they were alone, but was discovered by Cheon Yeong-jae and the attempt was unsuccessful.

But Suu tells a different truth.

“That woman was laughing at that time?”

The time that Woo Min-hee gave me was 48 hours.

I thought it was a long enough time, but now I’ve changed my mind.

I feel like I have to use up all that time.