Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 391



Only Noblemtl

Hiding the House in the Apocalypse Chapter 391

159. Longing for home (1)

I once saw a scene in Seoul where an angry crowd was violently dragging a man and a woman around and pointing at them.

At the time, I was on my way to beg from Kim Da-ram, who was still living comfortably with the title of committee member, so I didn’t have time to find out the whole story, but I heard that the people were so angry because he was Chinese.

It is not only China’s nuclear bombing and chemical attacks that have completely wiped out the large number of ethnic Koreans in South Korea after the war.

Four years after the war began, people still harbor hatred toward China, and some have replaced that feeling with ridicule and contempt.

“What do the Chinese kids know? They didn’t even use Awaken and were stubborn and ended up ruined.”

Although Cheon Yeong-jae’s opinion may not represent everyone, it is true that many people despise China.

Although the war they started destroyed our lives, the shockingly absurd collapse they saw immediately afterwards was, to borrow an idiom they coined, no different from bragging.

The causes of China’s early demise are said to include the merciless nuclear retaliation of the United States, mass starvation due to the interruption of the food chain, internal strife between warlord-like local governments and factions within the party, early infiltration by monsters, and even fanatics who are now harming us. However, it is true that there has not been much serious and in-depth research on China’s demise up to now.

This is not something that happened because there were no scholars willing to study it.

For the sake of academic curiosity, they run to the end of the Mariana Trench and even to the front of a volcano that looks like it might erupt at any moment. The fact that they are unable to properly research China is largely due to realistic circumstances.

The fact that some European scholars flew to China to do research after China’s virtual destruction, but were hit by a surface-to-air missile, and had to change their research topic to the afterlife was a hot topic that was even talked about on message boards.

I am not a researcher, nor have I ever achieved academic success in any subject.

But man is an animal of need.

I’ve had a vague feeling about this for a while, but now I feel like I need to know.

Why they fell apart so quickly and so vainly.

My curiosity is not satisfied by grand, abstract themes such as human conflict, the rise of fanaticism, or a massive onslaught of monsters.

More than anything, the lighthouse experience turned my curiosity into urgency.

The trigger came from the scene where the K-walkie-talkie brought from the lighthouse was shown to Woo Min-hee’s research staff.

“Well, I’ve never heard of or seen a monster using a pseudo-EMP. EMPs are byproducts of some incredibly powerful energy activity. You’ve heard of the Dellinger effect, right? The monster’s waves certainly seem to release a tremendous amount of energy, but is it really that big compared to nuclear fission?”

The researchers that Woo Min-hee was with directly refuted my view that the monster could destroy electronics over a wide area.

Well, I know my opinion is far-fetched.

Several radios were reportedly destroyed, but the electronic equipment in the control room was functioning normally.

“The special ability that monsters use as countermeasures against drones does not touch the drone circuit board itself. At one time, the circuit attack theory proposed by a European scholar was widely supported as the majority theory, but now no one believes it.”

“Is that so?”

Since joining the new Seoul, I have never once felt my long absence, but the hardest thing to keep up with is the latest information and theories about monsters.

The doctrines I knew and believed in were revised, refuted, and destroyed.

One of those perspectives is drones.

Until now, I thought that the monster’s ability to destroy drones was to shoot out a kind of intense radar-like radio wave to destroy the drone’s circuitry from a distance.

Not at all.

“Now, the Chinese theory that monsters interfere with the drone’s radio waves and disable them is virtually the accepted view.”

Why didn’t I know?

That may be because I rarely use drones, but it may also be because I’ve directly encountered monsters with the power to destroy certain gunpowder weapons.

Because people are quite convenient animals who easily think that all similar things are the same.

Anyway, a researcher is a researcher.

Even when looking at the same thing, he sees much more than I do.

“But this circuit is a bit unusual. While the capacitor is relatively intact, the inductor is so badly damaged that it almost melts, which seems a bit odd to me, even as a non-electronics expert.”

“What’s the problem?”

“Both are components that store electricity, but capacitors store charge while inductors store electricity in the form of magnetic fields. I’m not an expert so I don’t know the exact principle, but if a specific component is damaged to an excessive degree, doesn’t that mean that the cause of the problem lies there?”

Whatever the cause, an unusual phenomenon was observed.

Before the rift opened, humanity relegated things that were difficult to explain to the realm of the gods, but after the rift opened, monsters became the scapegoat.

In fact, it’s true that all the strange things are the fault of the monsters, and more than anything, the monsters are closer to us than God.

The most detailed and extensive data on this monster probably comes from North America and Europe.

In fact, it has become a living hell there, but it is the result of a powerful administrative unit like the Jeju government continuing to take the lead in research there.

However, in the current situation where South Korea has virtually collapsed and even sea routes have been cut off, it is unlikely that the United States will accept South Korea’s request for information.

I don’t know the details, but it doesn’t seem like there’s much of a difference between this side and that side in that there’s no “representative.”

Outside of the West, the country with the most data is China.

One thing I learned after coming to New Seoul is that some of the monsters we classified as new actually appeared quietly during the fall of China.

It would be stranger if there was no data on this place, as it was the site of the largest monster war in human history.

It occurred to me that among these unknown Chinese newcomers, there might be one that could unlock the secrets of this burned-out circuit board.

There are Chinese stragglers nearby.

Rather than being an isolated group of defeated soldiers, it appeared to be a group with some degree of governmental organization and framework.

Well, I’ve fought them to the death before.

“Ah. You mean those Chinese guys?”

Kim Byeong-cheol has contacts with Chinese remnants of the war.

During the heyday, they even signed a ceremonial armistice.

“There is a channel. It’s been a while since I’ve contacted you, but I’m sure you’ll respond if I contact you.”

Even when I first formed a relationship with Kim Byeong-cheol, things weren’t all that great.

Not only was he a warlord, but my calculation at the time was that there was nothing good that could come from catching the eye of someone in power like that.

There is probably nothing more universally valid than the saying that life is long and unknowable.

We have each gone through many changes, and as we have joined together in a new place called Seoul, we are helping and influencing each other in many ways.

“shit.”

Kim Byeong-cheol suddenly sighed.

There is only one reason why this gentleman sighs.

I didn’t ask on purpose.

If I ask, it’ll just increase my workload.

I don’t know why, but the people above me think I’m having a good time these days.

While others are struggling with paperwork and work to build a defensive line, I just stay in the office all day and occasionally go out to inspect the surrounding area.

I am not the type to make excuses, but if I had to make an excuse for myself, I would say that I am doing very important work that prepares me for the future, but in Korea, doing research is considered the same as slacking off.

But in Kim Byeong-cheol’s eyes, I seem to be a bum with a lot of time on my hands.

“My daughter, you know. She’s been flirting with a weird guy lately.”

The general began to rant.

“hmm······.”

“He looks like a pillar of a family. I wonder where he survived until now. Anyway, all daughters are like that. Why is there a saying that he is a married woman? Even if things didn’t go well back then, I should have gotten a son somehow.”

“Why did you become a monk······?”

“Is this the first time you’ve heard of it?”

“Are you saying that if I leave home, I become Japanese?”

“······What the hell are you talking about?”

The reason Kim Byeong-cheol failed may be because he had no sense of humor.

Finally, after listening to his ramblings for a full 30 minutes, I received an answer that he would try to contact the Chinese.

About two hours later, while I was in the office using the Internet for the first time in a while, Kim Byeong-cheol’s subordinate came to see me.

I got in touch with you.

That story was told in a positive way too.

“The Chinese are reaching their limit. Isn’t four years enough time for everything to come to an end?”

Kim Byeong-cheol relayed the details of the negotiations with the Chinese with an uneasy smile on his face.

“They asked for some supplies. They asked for ship parts and fuel to operate the submarine. Park Hunter will have to talk to the Warden himself about this. I manage the warehouse, but I need the Warden’s permission to take out supplies of this level.”

“That shouldn’t be that difficult.”

“Oh, and I heard they’re sending someone from China.”

“A person?”

“Yes. They said they will send a negotiator who can speak Korean soon.”

The negotiator in question appeared in Seoul the very next day.

But that negotiator.

The liver is also large.

It’s good that they came in an armored vehicle, but they’re hanging a Chinese flag, the Five-Star Red Flag, on the armored vehicle.

“What is that?”

“Are you crazy? That.”

“What are you doing, soldiers? Aren’t you going to destroy them right away?”

“Didn’t we have a ceasefire? Kim Byeong-cheol made a show of accepting Manchuria.”

“No matter what, it’s like that. Why are you coming from the Republic of Korea and flying that disgusting country’s flag?”

Even I think he’s not in his right mind.

I thought that he must either be extremely patriotic or someone whose heart was broken.

I met the person in question.

There are four people, but only one negotiator.

By the way, that negotiator. I know his face.

“That’s the woman.”

Kim Byung-chul stood next to a young woman exchanging greetings with a government official and whispered to her.

“······.”

There was a time when the remnants of the Chinese army were selling their wares.

They no longer run the shopping mall because they have run out of stock, but I know it well because I used to deal with Chinese people back then.

That woman.

He is a Chinese hunter who was at the scene at the time.

That too, with a soft light in both eyes.

“It’s Zhang Shuyingyang.”

Kim Byeong-cheol introduced that woman to me.

“This is Park Gyu. He’s the person in charge of our hunters.”

The woman opened her mouth, looking at me with her shining eyes.

“hello?”

Flawless Korean.

With her refined features, balanced posture, and demeanor that made her seem intelligent even from afar, she was a woman who would have attracted attention even if she had done something else.

Especially in this day and age, handing out a well-made business card felt refreshing.

The name on the business card was written in simplified characters, traditional characters, and English. Looking at the traditional characters, I saw that this woman’s name was Jang Su-yeong, a very familiar name in Korean.

Just like my mentor, Jang Gi-yeong.

“Nice to meet you.”

Of course, I kept the fact that I was a professor a secret.

Although Kim Byeong-cheol has a tendency to act arrogantly and selfishly, it seems that he was promoted to general for a reason; he acts thoroughly when it comes to important areas.

Moved the seat.

As the parties were different, the negotiations were conducted in a small conference room.

The main point is to find a balance between the value of the information that China will provide and the materials that we will provide.

Since the number of items permitted by Woo Min-hee is not that many, they must be carefully reviewed.

I don’t even know Chinese and I’ve already killed a few remnants of the Chinese army. The reason I’m here is because you asked me to provide information, so I can select the information I need.

The information I requested from the Chinese was about a new type of data that the Chinese government had just before the war, which was not reported by China.

Since dealing honestly with the savvy Chinese was tantamount to asking for a swindle, a few secondary demands were also made as a disguise.

For example, health data from people who survived long-term in eroded areas, types and specifications of Chinese-made monster weapons, and the results of 10 nuclear explosions inside cracks that the Chinese government secretly carried out.

Instead of using a regular tablet, Jang Su-yeong took out a large student notebook and negotiated by constantly writing illegible letters with a pen and erasing them repeatedly.

She was left-handed and although she didn’t know Chinese very well, her handwriting seemed to be quite bad.

“I’m very sorry, Mr. Park. Could you repeat what you said earlier?”

It is clear that he couldn’t read the words he had written and asked me to explain them again.

As Kim Byeong-cheol had predicted, the situation on the Chinese remnants appeared to be quite dire.

Although Woo Min-hee had allocated a small amount of allowable supplies, Jang Su-yeong obediently accepted the fact that Kim Byeong-cheol had given half of it away.

“······If you are poor too, there is nothing we can do. Let’s do that.”

But Chinese people are Chinese.

He acts as if he will just take out the liver and gallbladder, but then strikes at the crucial part.

“However, our data cannot be transferred or copied. It can only be viewed through authorized terminals.”

The data held by the Chinese side is completely sealed, and from the time of sealing, only reading is possible, and no other actions are possible. If any attempt is made to forcibly export the data, the data will be destroyed using the Chinese side’s own shredding program.

They were a group notorious for hacking, so they must have been very careful about what they had.

After the fall of North Korea, there were also stories that elite hackers overseas had carried out large-scale hacking against China and sold various confidential data to the United States and Europe.

Anyway, to summarize this situation in one word, they will give you information cheaply, but you have to come and see for yourself.

Perhaps, I am the one who should go in person, both in terms of atmosphere and legitimacy.

But then another problem arose.

The place was being torn apart and the Chinese were about to return to their home territory.

Jang Su-yeong approached me with a meaningful smile.

After looking around, she whispered in my ear.

“Are you coming?”

I was glaring at Jang Su-yeong in protest at her acting like this even though we weren’t even close, but her smile grew deeper and she added another name for me.

“Professor.”

I looked at her seriously.

I don’t know this woman.

I had never seen it before I traded it second-hand.

But it seemed like this woman really knew me.

“I was there when you received the Golden Fleece.”

“······.”

Well then, how could I not know?

At the time, the chairman strictly searched the body and prohibited photography, but more than 50 people from all walks of life gathered to watch the scene of awarding the faded decoration.

“Then I’ll be waiting.”

As she left, Cheon Yeong-jae, who had been in the corner, appeared.

“······Senior Park.”

It’s obvious what he’s going to say.

They are telling you not to go.

Actually, it would be wiser not to go here.

But that woman also came to the enemy territory alone, waving the five-star red flag.

It’s not that I want to show off my courage.

If I were to create my own proverb during my long life as a hunter, I would say the following to others.

If you don’t know, you die.

So, there is nothing to be afraid of.