Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 4



Only Krnovel

4. Good news

There are stages to destruction.

Opinions vary, but the main indicator that distinguishes the stages is the state of the country.

All serious stages presuppose the collapse of the state.

The collapse of South Korea began when Chinese warlords launched a suicidal war and nuclear missiles were dropped on major South Korean cities.

Many people died and countless cities were in ruins, but the South Korean system was still intact.

There was no need to go outside.

Because even if you just received shortwave radio or TV waves, the national emergency broadcast would inform you of the current situation.

Although my main TV broke down because of the EMP, I installed the one I had for emergencies instead and watched the situation.

Although millions of people were killed and half of the city’s functions were halted, Seoul and its surrounding areas were quickly stabilized and the situation was brought under control by military units, civil servants, and volunteers.

I left the bunker after communications had been restored and the system had been established in the area where I had taken up residence.

I headed toward Seoul, pulling an old luggage bike that I had prepared for this day.

If it were the United States, where everyone is armed with guns, this would be a very dangerous move, but this is Korea.

The dangers of sniping or shooting are incomparable to those in the United States.

Even if this were America, I would have made the same choice.

If you are really scared from the beginning, you won’t get anything out of it.

Of course, even though this is Korea, you should still follow basic etiquette.

Cheap brands, shabby, worn-out fashion, and meager belongings. This is the dress code of the apocalypse.

In addition, he brought three days’ worth of food and water, some dollars and cigarettes for bartering, and for self-defense, he took an American-made pistol and a sharp hatchet.

There was no major threat on the way to Seoul, but the sight and air of destruction that unfolded before my eyes gave me complex and conflicting emotions: relief, a sense of reward, and a feeling of depression that made my feet wet.

There is a good reason why he left his well-decorated hideout and headed to Seoul.

“I’m looking for Hunter Lee Sang-hoon.”

I picked out one of the soldiers who seemed like a nice person and asked him.

“Are you Hunter Lee Sang-hoon?”

“Yes. You are currently in charge of disaster relief.”

“Can’t you see that I’m busy right now?”

Contrary to his appearance, he was a rough man, but when I handed him a few packs of cigarettes, he became kind as if it were a lie.

“Ah~ You’re looking for Director Lee Sang-hoon. That’s such a common name.”

“Oh. You got promoted. You were different from the start.”

“Please wait a moment. I will try to contact you. Who should I tell you?”

“Please tell him my name is Park Gyu, who went to school with me. If he doesn’t remember, tell him that I’m the friend from my class who graduated at the top of his class. He’ll remember right away.”

After a while the soldier returned.

“Director Lee Sang-hoon says he is currently in a meeting and is difficult to contact.”

“Is that so?”

“What’s the matter? If there’s anything I can do to help, I’ll help.”

I didn’t come specifically to meet Lee Sang-hoon.

I knew from the moment I left the bunker that he wouldn’t meet me.

Actually, I don’t want to meet you either.

There is a separate reason why I sold Lee Sang-hoon’s name.

“I would like to be issued a military walkie-talkie and a personal identification number.”

In some areas, cell phones still work, but in many areas they don’t.

Especially the further you get from the city, the less useful your cell phone becomes.

The most useful means of communication in these situations is a high-performance shortwave radio, the K-Walkie-Talkie.

It is heavier and more difficult to use than a cell phone, but it is reliable and can communicate with any human in the vicinity without knowing the other person’s number as long as it is tuned to a public frequency.

While that alone is convenient enough, military walkie-talkies are a step above civilian ones and have access to encrypted military frequencies.

That means we can get information directly from the military, which is currently the most reliable armed force and source of information.

“It seems like you know Director Lee Sang-hoon, so I can give you a walkie-talkie for free, but I don’t think I can give you a personal identification number. It’s only given to military and police officers and monster handlers.”

As expected.

I never thought a personal identification number would be a thing in the first place.

The soldier handed me a brand new item that had not even been opened yet.

I carefully checked for any malfunctions on the spot and tested it.

The result is perfect, quality.

This is the moment when the purpose of coming to Seoul is achieved.

I spent the rest of the day riding my bike around downtown Seoul.

According to sources, a total of five nuclear missiles were launched toward Seoul, four of which were intercepted in the air and one landed inside the Sadamun Gate.

The casualty count is still being tallied, but is said to easily exceed a million.

The roads became parking lots for cars that could not come or go, and many parts of the city were ruins.

In particular, an order was issued to prohibit entry into the Sadamun Gate, which was directly hit by the nuclear attack.

People who had lost their homes were wandering everywhere, and hospitals were packed with victims and injured people lying on the streets because they could not find beds.

The security situation didn’t look that bad.

It remains to be seen whether this is because the security forces are so strong or because the citizens simply do not have the will to commit crimes at the moment.

The effects of the EMP were less severe than expected, and although a significant number of vehicles and base stations were shut down, there were quite a few base stations and cell phones that were operating normally, and power was being restored, albeit limited, primarily to priority areas.

What people fear is the next air raid.

According to the government announcement, this side also retaliated with nuclear weapons and scorched the source of the provocation, but few people believed that at face value.

As expected, while I was walking around Seoul, an air raid warning sounded and I took refuge in the subway.

I saw many refugees in the subway.

Because it was a neighborhood with a large apartment complex nearby, the subway was crowded with people to the point of being saturated.

“?”

For a moment, I doubted my eyes on the subway.

…

…

The subway was divided into sections by apartment complex.

Although they were not wearing armbands, middle-aged men and women wearing invisible armbands were moving nervously back and forth, thoroughly marking their own sections.

A man wearing a red hat who looked to be over 60 years old suddenly appeared in front of me and asked rudely.

“Sir, where are you from?”

“I’m still in my 20s. I’m only 29 years old.”

“No, where are you from? Are you from this neighborhood?”

“Please refrain from using informal language. You are not my boss, are you?”

“Are you from this neighborhood?”

“no.”

“Non-residents, go over there.”

At the end, he waved his hand without even looking at me.

The non-residential area was located in the most remote corner of the subway station.

An area where even light cannot reach properly.

A few people were loitering around with gloomy faces, and the faint sound of a radio could be heard here and there.

“······This air raid is not a nuclear air raid, but a cruise missile air raid. The ROK Army’s interception unit will block it with the spirit of Admiral Yi Sun-sin, but the people should prepare for any unfortunate incidents······.”

Soon the ground began to shake gently and a distant explosion could be heard, perhaps echoing ominously through the walls and into the subway station.

Boom- Boom-

Experiencing an air raid in an unfamiliar bunker with people whose names you don’t even know is not a very pleasant experience.

Above all, there is no such thing as privacy.

Rustle-

As I was taking out a chocolate bar and opening it because I was hungry, a bunch of big eyes like a pack of rats appeared and stared at my chocolate bar.

As if that were burdensome enough, a boy I didn’t know came up to me and stared blankly at me.

Gulp-

Maybe I didn’t eat properly.

If you look at it at face value, there is a body fat that can be maintained even if you starve for a month.

A person who appeared to be the child’s parent arrived later and took the child away.

“excuse me.”

He held out a new chocolate bar and asked a few questions.

“Rations? They gave us just a little bit. But even that······.”

The child’s parents glared at the humans controlling the entrance with resentful eyes.

Instead of those who are tight-lipped, I asked the question.

“Did it just have a monopoly on the residents?”

The child’s parents nodded silently.

“okay.”

It’s a fresh discovery.

It is natural for people to come together and form interest groups in times of crisis, but Koreans had their own unique focal point.

If there were clan villages during the Joseon Dynasty, there are apartment complex villages in modern times.

The more generations and influence a complex has, the stronger the power of the complex village becomes.

The actual balance of power was clearly revealed within this narrow underground bunker.

The strong ones get good locations and monopolize the supplies, while the weak ones get shabby areas and meager supplies.

This is a very Korean landscape.

Soon the air raid warning bells began to ring out everywhere.

– Air raids are lifted! Air raids are lifted! Citizens are requested to go outside and go about their business.

After saying goodbye to the family I had been with for a short while, I got off the subway.

As I was about to exit the subway, I saw signs indicating the different complexes and the residents of the complex village.

“······.”

Well, I don’t think they’ll hack it.

As a people who can tolerate theft but not bicycle theft, I felt many dark eyes glancing at my bicycle as I passed by while pushing my bicycle, but nothing actually resulted in a threat.

Well, it’s still a good place to live and the country is still healthy.

I unintentionally overheard their conversation.

“This bombing fell on the Shindo-shin area. The Chinese even put chemical weapons in their missiles, so the damage is enormous.”

Up to this point, it’s a very normal conversation.

But, a woman’s blunt words stopped me in my tracks.

“This is good news.”

For a moment I doubted my ears.

“?”

No, what good news is this?

“It’s a windfall. There are only a few decent apartment complexes left in Seoul. If they all fail except ours, won’t our neighborhood end up being the most luxurious residential area?”

If one or two people had said something like that, I would have thought so.

But human behavior always goes beyond imagination.

“When I hear that, it’s a huge windfall.”

“Our apartment complex will be reborn as the best luxury complex in Seoul.”

“My friend always brags about his neighborhood, but he’s such a loser.”

“I want to see the war end quickly and the order of priority be reorganized.”

“I guess opportunities come from crises.”

Since the war started, I have been reluctant to look at other people’s faces.

Because we are all going to die and disappear soon anyway.

But this time, I couldn’t hold it in any longer and looked at the other person’s face.

They were the faces of ordinary people you could see anywhere.

That’s why my anger deepened.

“Hey, aren’t those words too much?”

I asked once, thinking I would never see that face again.

The answer is a cold glare.

A middle-aged woman smiled, exchanged glances with the residents, and then said something.

“Go your way.”

*

There is no way to know and no way to know about the fate of the entire village that I witnessed that day.

Because I’m not so idle as to care about people who call the world’s destruction a blessing.

But we know well the fate of the residents of the ‘Rupert Reich Palace’ complex, one of those sects.

I remember it was a year and a half after my first visit to Seoul.

A group of refugees passed by my hideout.

-Chijijik! Chijijik! This is······ Dong! Rupert Reich Palace Residents’ Meeting! If anyone is listening, please reply! Repeat! This is······

They constantly tried to communicate with their surroundings on public frequencies.

Instead of responding to the call, I just listened.

We have enough food and water to feed hundreds of humans, but we have nothing to give them.

I don’t care about wasting even a single grain of rice or a single dead skin cell from my body.

By the way, coming to my territory is probably not a good thing for them at least.

-Chijijik! Arghhhhhh! Monsters! This is the Rupert Reich Palace Residents’ Meeting! We are being attacked by monsters! I repeat! This is the Rupert Sibural Palace Residents’ Meeting!

About a month ago, several man-killing monsters appeared around my base.

It wasn’t a monster that attacked them.

A being that has been mutated and contaminated by the plague brought by monsters.

It’s a ‘mutation’.

Several stray cats cared for by a nearby cat mom have been infected with the mutation factor, grown to the size of tigers, and now, with the power to exterminate mandarin ducks and natural monuments, are trying to exterminate humans.

Their fighting power may be weaker than that of the ‘Gold Pack’, a group of mutated killer dogs active in the south, but when it comes to fighting ordinary people, Lu Bu is second to none.

Tata Tang!

The walkie-talkie emitted a terrible scream along with the scattered gunfire.

-Chijijik! This is the Rupert Reich Palace occupant······ I repeat! We are under attack by monsters!!

I listened quietly and said something into the walkie-talkie.

“This is good news.”