Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 73



Only Krnovel

42. Paradise (6)

“I’m alive.”

I shouted urgently into the radio.

“There will be bombing. If it’s around a US military base, well, I hope they rest in peace.”

“Don’t bomb the airport.”

“why?”

“The warhead hasn’t been loaded yet.”

He spoke quickly and in a low voice, looking through the periscope.

“Really? Really? Oh my, it’s true.”

At the airport where she, I, and the other soldiers were watching, the roar of another jet engine reverberated like the roar of a wild beast.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee—

This is Park Cheol-ju’s plane.

Who is in control?

The pilot? Did you bribe the pilot?

no.

Among those who fell were people wearing pilot uniforms.

The elegant plane moved its wings’ rudders back and forth.

“no way······?”

Is that Park Cheol-ju himself?

Does Chairman Seok Joo of the Group personally fly the plane?

Now that I think about it, that’s what Guseongjun said.

Park Cheol-ju has a pilot’s license.

“You crazy old man! Stop it! Quickly!”

The plane slowly moved toward the runway amid the roar of vehicles.

Bang! Tata tata tang!

A sharp gunshot rang out from halfway between the airport and my area.

Looks like he’s about to fire a warning shot.

But the plane didn’t stop.

Even though its elegant surface was riddled with bullet holes, it confidently climbed onto the runway, making a roar as it accelerated, buried in its elegant body.

Weeeeeeeeeing–

Amid the deafening noise, the walkie-talkie picked up a man’s clear voice.

“Ladies and Gentlemen. Our flight is Seokju Group Flight 1 from Korea to Japan. The current time is 12:22, the temperature is 15 degrees, and the weather is clear······.”

The owner of the voice received over the airwaves was none other than Park Cheol-ju.

“The destination is paradise~.”

The plane took off.

At the same time, the jets that had been ripping the air overhead scattered in all directions.

Because we detected several anti-aircraft missiles flying through the air from the east.

While the fighter jets were performing dazzling evasive maneuvers, spraying chaff for signal jamming, the beautiful passenger plane flying on the runway took off into the sky, its silver body shining brightly.

When I saw that sight, I unconsciously clenched my fist.

Because I felt an absurd beauty.

Maybe it’s envy.

Perhaps he felt jealous of the freedom of being able to leave this miserable land of death and go somewhere else.

Maybe it was because I felt sleepy earlier, but I fell into a daze as if I was walking in a dream.

“Skeleton!”

Until an urgent voice brought me back to reality.

“Skeleton!”

This is the voice of the defender.

The communicator was ringing.

“Oh. Okay.”

“You’re alive? What’s going on? What the hell is going on there?!”

“So, there’s a small dispute brewing?”

“What about you? Are you safe? Are you under attack?”

“hmm.”

What should I say?

Should I be honest?

But I don’t think that’s necessary.

“wait for a sec.”

“what?”

“It will only take a moment.”

I put down the communicator and looked at the entrance to the bunker.

A man was slowly coming down the stairs.

In one hand he holds a heavy bulletproof shield that covers his body, and in the other he holds a dull Chinese sword.

Kim Pil-seong looked at me and smiled.

For a moment, I was reminded of the brown-haired boy from my school days.

The boy seemed to be talking to me.

Let’s have a second round.

I got up from my seat.

Leaving behind numerous death traps, he picked up two axes.

thud

Kim Pil-seong threw down his shield and closed the bunker door.

“Is it okay to lock it like this?”

He nodded.

Now, there are only two hunters with the same past in the bunker.

It’s okay now to hear gunshots outside, missile explosions, screams, and unintelligible noises.

Because we are classmates who graduated from the same school, received the same education, and shared the same destiny, we are now facing each other with the same thoughts.

Kim Pil-seong smiled faintly.

The moment I saw that smile, I smiled too.

This guy.

It seems like he really wanted to fight just once.

So, this means that this is the true desire that has been suppressed and held back.

After all, defeats suffered in childhood tend to last a lifetime.

His sense of defeat must have deepened as the one who defeated him went on to become a half-legend.

But it seems he never lost faith in his own skills.

If you look at the letters mixed in the blade of the great sword.

Strongest

Kim Pil-seong suddenly hesitated and stepped back.

“What, what······?”

“what?”

“Why is the toilet like that?”

“Why? Are you dissatisfied?”

“By the way, this is a really well-decorated bunker.”

Kim Pil-seong entered my area, lifting the grenade net with his hand.

His gaze turned to the crossed Claymore.

“Just now, the commander Kwon said to push the shields too, but if we had done that, we would have been wiped out.”

He nodded with a look of approval.

“As expected, he’s the top.”

Almost simultaneously, we both burst out laughing.

Kim Pil-seong held a long sword with the phrase “Kim Pil-seong is the strongest” engraved on it.

I also picked up an axe.

“Senior? Senior?”

The radio rang.

Kim Pil-seong immediately recognized that voice.

He didn’t say anything.

Instead, he came running towards me with a long sword.

Its speed was like a leopard, and its momentum was like Mt. Tai.

Chaengkang-

Two axes and a long sword clashed in the air.

Beyond the weapons that were rattling and competing with each other, Kim Pil-sung’s eyes were glaring at me.

He, who had been competing with me, quickly retreated and attacked me again.

Chaengkang! Chaengkang! Chaengkang!

In an instant, three attacks occurred, and sparks flew into the air each time.

“oh.”

Woo Min-hee’s voice was heard on the walkie-talkie.

“Senior, are you busy right now?”

Then a humming was heard.

A cheerful melody that makes you feel good.

In an instant, the inside of the bunker was filled with a strange atmosphere.

Amidst the gloomy yet cheerful and psychotic humming, the two hunters began to perform the dance of death they had each practiced their entire lives.

The first one to seize the opportunity was Kim Pil-seong.

Chaengkang!

An axe was caught in his long sword and flew in a parabolic arc into the air.

Kim Pil-seong immediately stabbed his long sword into my left half of the body, which had become an uninhabited area.

I mixed some paint.

I step forward as if I’m dodging to the left, and then when he turns and chases me, I hurriedly step back.

The sharp blade of the great sword passed by, barely grazing the tip of my neck.

Beyond that, Kim Pil-seong’s gleaming eyes mixed with regret are visible.

Immediately after the momentary attack, he lightly threw the axe he was holding awkwardly using only the strength of his wrist.

Phew!

The axe was stuck in his knee.

It’s a shallow wound, but it’s located on the knee.

“Ugh!”

I made a big circle, retrieved the axe I had dropped earlier, and ran towards him.

Like a wounded tiger, Kim Pil-seong swings his sword fiercely, but the more excellent a swordsman is, the more powerful his sword is likely to be from his lower body.

Phew!

The axe dug into his elbow, twisting his joint in the opposite direction.

“Ugh!”

Clang-

The sword has fallen.

I habitually looked at my wristwatch.

30.7 seconds.

The time it took for the weapon to fall into his hands.

My skills have definitely improved.

But that dirty temper hasn’t changed one bit.

“Park Gyu!”

Kim Pil-seong took off his shirt and revealed the bombs hidden inside.

His hand tries to pull the detonator,

Bam!

My axe was faster than his head.

The hand that had lost control of its nervous system flailed, but soon lost its purpose and groped the cold floor along with its torso.

thud

Another hunter has fallen.

The humming coming from the radio stopped.

“Who won?”

I answered Woo Min-hee’s question with a hint of annoyance.

“I’m sorry. I survived again.”

He took out the axe from Kim Pil-seong’s head and wiped the blood and brain fluid on his clothes, sighing.

“I was cheering for you, senior?”

“By the way. Could you spare me some time?”

“If you have bait, use the bait.”

Woo Min-hee imitated my voice and spoke.

The voice was exactly like the solemn and merciless tone that Park Gyu had used during his time in China, not the current Park Gyu.

She said with a smile.

“Isn’t that the method that my senior taught me by throwing Chinese meat shields?”

“······.”

“Hide for a moment. Don’t move. A helicopter will be here soon, and I told you to kill anything that moves.”

The sound of gunfire was heard from afar.

Maybe they’re bombing it.

Perhaps the National Assembly faction’s fighter jets are destroying the Corps faction’s artillery.

Use the Pioneer Corps as bait to determine enemy strength and the location of key threats, then silence enemy threats with your main force.

It’s a good operation.

Soon helicopters appeared from the west.

They tore, broke, and burned everything that moved, just as Woo Min-hee said.

After the helicopter left, I left the bunker and checked the surroundings.

“······.”

Everything was destroyed.

There will probably be no survivors.

He sat on the blackened bunker and lit a cigarette he had taken from the dead man’s body.

“Phew······.”

Well, the long day is coming to an end.

I looked south absentmindedly.

White, innocent clouds stretched out toward the south.

*

Among the legionnaires dispatched to the airport, there were no survivors except Ji Young-hee and the technician who had left the airport the day before.

The combat helicopters chased down anyone in my territory, including fleeing vehicles, and turned them into fireballs.

After everything was sorted out, they packed up their nuclear warheads and leisurely headed north.

I also walked around the area to see if there were any survivors hiding, but apart from a single body that had fallen over the cliff, I found nothing new.

“Did you call me?”

The defender said with a sad expression.

“I don’t think it’s necessary to call you.”

I didn’t use the Defender Summon Ticket.

Still, I called the Defender.

It was impossible to handle this many corpses alone, especially during the season when corpses decompose.

The Defender expressed his displeasure at not being called, but soon quietly and quickly helped collect the body.

Defender’s body collection was top-notch, as anyone who has ever eaten meat can attest.

He knew where and how to hold and transport the bodies for easy access, and he also knew how to clean and dispose of the remains of a corpse in poor condition.

Thanks to this, I was able to clean up my surroundings with ease.

Bam-

The last body was loaded onto the truck.

It belongs to my colleague Kim Pil-seong.

“······If you feel like it’s going to be dangerous next time, call me.”

“This time, honestly, it’s on the scale of war. It’s not a simple matter that can change just because you come.”

“I understand the circumstances, but I feel a little bad?”

“Sorry. That’s just how I speak.”

“It must have been unpopular?”

“I won’t deny it.”

The defender waved his hand.

I rewarded him for leaving with a few examples.

The beef and fuel that Ji Young-hee gave me.

“thanks.”

I bowed my head to him.

With all my heart.

“Thank you very much. I will not forget this favor.”

How many people are there in this terrible world to clean up dead bodies?

“······Call me next time.”

Defender accepted the gift and rode his bike.

“Yeah. If you’re in danger, call me too.”

That day, our bulletin board was filled with various speculations and rumors about the roar of airplanes and gunfire that had been heard all day.

The one at the center of it all is our reporter, Mr. Yangban.

gijayangban: (with photo) Fierce battle between the Legion faction and the National Assembly faction at the US military base?!

The journalist’s article included photos of the battlefield, probably taken from a combat helicopter.

The photos were filled with colorful and thought-provoking scenes, including a burnt-out truck and wreckage, a combat helicopter stuck in a rice paddy ridge, shrapnel from a fighter jet, and the remains of a missile.

Thanks to this, the reporter was able to post a hot topic on both Palenet and the bulletin board.

“······.”

At this point, I guess we should consider him as reporter Woo Min-hee.

This incident did not end the truce between the National Assembly faction and the Corps faction.

Neither the Legion faction nor the National Assembly faction has expressed their position on this matter.

So, it is a kind of happening.

There are casualties, but the subject and cause are unclear.

This made the bulletin boards boil over, but I couldn’t enjoy the Internet world 100%.

I also suffered quite a bit of damage.

One bunker was destroyed and the bunker’s facilities, including its ventilation system, were damaged.

Above all, my bunker is no longer safe.

He turned the Legion faction into his enemy.

There are no survivors, but there are those who know me.

Kim Da-ram.

She left my paradise in disgust, tried to destroy her own paradise, and furthermore, helped those who were trying to destroy my paradise.

“······.”

Still, I don’t regret my choice to show my bunker to Kim Da-ram.

Rather, through this incident, I felt a clear sense of purpose.

There is hope.

The crack can be closed.

I don’t know if what Woo Min-hee said is true or not.

But it may be true that the crack has been closed.

I think of my comrades who, unlike me, were chosen by God.

If they were, and they had the support of stronger and more sophisticated new colleagues, perhaps the cracks in Jeju Island could be closed.

So, you can wait.

In addition to the day of death, another goal was created: the day to close the rift.

It’s one thing to live in hope that the world will get better, and quite another to live in the conviction that everyone else but you will die.

Could this thin thread of hope be the path toward paradise that Park Cheol-ju was talking about?

So, a true paradise was created for me.

*

Mayuzumi88: Koreans, is this yours?

A Japanese user appeared on our bulletin board.

He tells us the story of how Viva! Apocalypse! became a popular post on the Japanese bulletin board.

A southern island with an endless blue sea.

An airplane as unrealistically beautiful as the island landed on an abandoned runway where construction had been halted.

It is said that when the plane was discovered, no one was found inside the plane.

But I know that plane well.

This is Park Cheol-ju’s plane.

Where did Park Cheol-ju go?

A clue was found on another bulletin board posted by a Japanese person.

Among the Japanese people who had gathered to watch the plane, there was one man in particular who was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses and was making two V signs toward the camera.

When I saw that sight, I couldn’t help but laugh.

It’s Park Cheol-ju.

Finally, another conglomerate chairman went to find his own paradise.

To honor his will, I broke the taboo and took the MBTI test for the first time.

“······.”

The result is INFP.

Are you a mediator who likes to think?

They say that I’m an introvert who gets lost in my own world······.

Somehow I don’t feel good······.

I asked Dajeong, who seemed like she would like MBTI.

“INFP?”

She said bluntly.

“That’s a trait of a loner.”