Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 397



Only Noblemtl

Episode 397 161. Seat (1)

The rift that dominated Southeast Asia, starting with India, and further drove China and North Korea to ruin is unlikely to have a favorable view of the Republic of Korea, which still remains at the tip of the Eurasian Peninsula.

Their offensive is a process for them, but a necessity for us.

On the riverbank, numerous soldiers are preparing for a decisive battle in their respective positions.

At every vantage point overlooking the river, tanks or large monster batteries are positioned, and in the rear, field guns and multiple rocket launchers of various calibers await the order to fire.

The area with the most troops deployed is the riverside area, the main line of resistance, but an equally large number of troops are guarding the outskirts of the city.

This is because large-scale monster attacks tend to be accompanied by fanatics.

Although they are conveniently called fanatics, in reality, fanatics are divided into various religious groups, and their characteristics vary greatly from group to group.

The psychopaths who really wanted to become one with the monsters seen in the Paju crack and the pseudo-religious people that Ham Chun-ok was involved with are the same fanatics, but they are completely different substances.

The most extreme and harmful of these are those who side with the monsters and seek to end the human world.

Their origins are that of the Chinese version of the N-Po generation, called the Tangping tribe in China. They upgraded the madness that their predecessors showed during the Cultural Revolution to a 21st century style, and contributed to the downfall of the giant that is China.

They are the ones who provided the decisive reason why we do not view fanatics as human beings.

On the North Korean side, these extreme fanatic religious sects had a great influence on the destruction of North Korea. When the Legion faction was a loyal army of South Korea, they did not dare to invade the southern border, but after the Legion faction defected, they, along with other religious sects, spread like poisonous mushrooms into South Korea.

According to confirmed intelligence, the warlord forces allied with these radical fanatics have been moving their forces towards Seoul since the large group of monsters was discovered.

Experience in China shows that they do not move alone.

By constantly watching the monsters’ movements, they can induce the monsters to collapse the human territory more easily, or they can go over the collapsed defense line and cause various acts of destruction.

What’s unusual is that when they find someone with even a little bit of social status, they don’t just kill them.

Just as their predecessors did during the Cultural Revolution, they humiliate and ridicule the person in public, and then deal with him in an absurdly comical manner.

One of the execution methods I know of involves tying two people up in the air, then lifting them in different directions with all their might so that their heads collide and they die.

It is said that the execution was carried out in a noisy and laughter-filled atmosphere, much like a medieval execution.

There were also numerous other degrading execution methods, including the human mole catching, the plank of Calneades, and the leap of faith.

They are equally derogatory and comical.

For those who ridicule all values ​​in the world, even human death could not escape being a means of ridicule.

The radical fanatics who have infiltrated Korea today may not be the same fanatics who burned China down, but they have likely inherited some of that violent and misanthropic attitude.

Moreover, they put a strain on the defense lines, as they did in China.

“We don’t have enough troops.”

Everything is contained in one word from Kim Byeong-cheol.

As the new Seoul grew rapidly, there were more districts to protect.

In particular, the eastern defensive line, where interpersonal combat would be the focus, became a problem.

The area that needs to be guarded is too wide, and it is not easy to defend like a river, and the opponents are not monsters that can be seen from afar, but humans who enjoy using camouflage and hiding.

We cannot cover this wide front with only limited forces.

I had no choice but to accept volunteers.

People flocking to the new Seoul include families and small groups, but there are also many large groups moving around in shelter units.

These refugee groups have their own leaders and armed forces and actually have significant combat experience.

Kim Byeong-cheol attempted to fill gaps in his vast eastern defensive line by assigning zones to these groups of refugees.

Actually, this interpersonal defense line is not my responsibility.

My jurisdiction is solely limited to the hordes of monsters coming from the north.

I’m not bragging, but the northern defense line is very well constructed.

“Let’s win here. Let’s win here. Attempt an attack on the protruding monster.”

Between the city and the city, in the vast open space that became a no man’s land after being hit by a nuclear bomb, the latest tanks that were modified from domestically produced main battle tanks for use against monsters were actively used, and sentry guns with armor plates were installed here and there to cut down monsters that act alone or are ahead, while grouping together monsters that move separately.

It was used to slow down most monsters by targeting their pattern of stopping when hitting the reflective field.

Finally, we set up a bombardment kill zone, and demolished all buildings around the strike area to prevent monsters from hiding or seeing defensive effects.

When monsters gather in the kill zone in such a nice way,

“This is the Tiger. Fire at the target.”

Artillery positions 10km away rain down death.

In it, monsters are nothing.

The kill zone around the crack has disappeared, but a new kill zone has been created through great effort.

People were puzzled when they saw that the monster hordes were being defeated so easily.

“What the heck? Those monsters. Were they really this weak?”

“Why on earth did you win?”

“That’s right. I don’t understand.”

“Back in the day, there was something like that? A huge crab the size of the 63 Building. Compared to that, this is really nothing.”

When people see monsters turning into particles of light in a hail of shells, they tend to easily judge the existence of monsters, but if a “raw” monster were to appear in front of them, there probably wouldn’t be much they could do.

The moment you shoot, holes will be made in their bodies and heads, and any clumsy attempts at approach will likely be frustrated before you even get close due to the monster’s attack abilities.

It is true that the monster’s melee ability is weak, but by weak here I mean weak compared to the transcendent abilities of other monsters, and not so simple that an ordinary human would underestimate it.

Even the Necromancer and Spider types, who are considered the weakest in melee ability, can easily crush people with just a few careless swings of their limbs or movements.

If a medium-sized species classified as a combat type were to invade the human ranks, the result would be obvious.

It’s a massacre.

It’s not for nothing that powerful countries like China and India were destroyed by monsters.

They are the natural enemies of humans.

It just seems like an easy kill, as it creates a way to deal with this fearsome enemy easily through the greatest human ability, thought and planning.

This can be seen just by looking at the fact that the main task of our hunters deployed in the cracks is to kill small species that have intruded into the ranks.

Besides, people don’t know the true fear of monsters.

They are not alive.

It is like a program that can infinitely print things out like a machine, no, it can infinitely replicate things.

The battle to defend Beijing lasted three months.

For three months, every sector was defended like an iron wall, but when one sector collapsed, the entire defensive line guarded by hundreds of thousands of troops collapsed like a sand castle.

People say that the reason Beijing fell was because of monsters that accidentally infiltrated the Chinese leadership, but the defense line had already been stretched to its limits by the endless stream of monsters.

So, it’s only just begun.

It’s an eternal fight that may never end.

“Strong waves confirmed in Paju crack! Estimated to be wave 32.”

Only Woo Min-hee’s researchers and observation crew know the truth.

But people tend to think only at their own level.

“Captain Park Gyu.”

Kim Byeong-cheol called me.

“I’m really sorry. In the east, people keep going missing. This is… What should I say? Are you saying that it doesn’t seem like human behavior?”

Kim Byeong-cheol never served in the cracks, and he was not favored by the government enough to serve in the cracks.

It is inevitable that he takes our battle lightly.

As is always the case with things in life, you see as much as you know.

“I’m really sorry, but when you have time, wouldn’t you take charge of the investigation? I have no one else I can ask to do it. You know, there’s no one as capable as you are.”

Normally I would refuse, but the battle in the east is just as important as the battle in the north.

However, the North is currently in a stable state.

To be exact, it hasn’t even started yet, but if an attack of the same strength comes, I should be able to block it without difficulty.

It would be right to help.

Besides, one interesting photo caught my eye.

The photo presented by Kim Byeong-cheol contained a scene in which armed people appeared to be moving with something that appeared to be a monster.

*

“Oh, there?”

It’s been a while since I’ve been with Defender.

He is one of the few Hunters stationed on the Eastern Defense Line.

Although he is a hunter, he is better at catching humans than monsters, so I think he is a good fit for the job.

Contrary to the image he has of a reclusive psychopathic killer engraved on bulletin boards, Defender is a very outgoing guy.

As evidenced by his past participation in public works in Seoul and his now legendary participation in lottery drawings, Defender is a guy who does all sorts of things, not just as a scavenger.

As is often the case with psychopathic killers, his outward appearance of sociality is not bad, so he has broad legs and is quick to gather information.

As a defender who enjoys extreme sports where he kills and kills fanatics every day, he was also well-versed in information about the organizations located within Seoul.

“Is he the district court chief? Anyway, I know that he’s a pretty capable person who leads the place.”

In addition to Defender, several of his teammates joined him.

He also brought Cheon Yeong-jae, but Defender didn’t say anything when he saw Cheon Yeong-jae, and Cheon Yeong-jae didn’t say anything either.

The emotional wounds that have built up in the past have not healed with the passage of time.

The place we are going is an area of ​​the eastern defense line that Kim Byung-chul calls the A-24 area.

This is an area where the defense was left to the shelter group due to the shortage of troops mentioned earlier.

The refugees in charge of this defensive line are said to be from Daejeon and one of the groups that quickly crossed over to Incheon from Daejeon.

While the other shelters that remained in Daejeon were largely destroyed, the group remained well organized enough to hold a single defensive position.

The shelter has about 3,000 people, and it is said that as many as 2,500 of them can carry guns.

However, they only deployed about 500 men to the front lines.

It is said that most of them are in their late 40s to 50s.

Before the war, people in their 50s were considered to be in their prime, but now they are classified as old and have health problems.

This is because the medical system is in shambles, there is an absolute lack of nutrition, and physical activities have increased.

Even leaving aside the anxiety and pervasive fear about the future, the fact that every day is an intensely stressful environment.

In short, the shelter sent to the front lines people who would be less affected even if they died and who could sacrifice themselves for the shelter.

However, this does not mean that their fighting power should be denigrated.

Most of them served in the military during the so-called tough times, and they are people who survived the competition for survival while going through various experiences during the hellish four years.

“······.”

The gazes of the shelter volunteers looking at us, holding various firearms, Chinese-made, American-made, and domestically-made, were by no means ordinary.

As expected from the area where the accident occurred, the atmosphere inside was cold and tense.

According to the Defender, contact was lost after news of a small-scale attack on a stronghold guarded by twenty men.

Everyone at the base is missing.

There were traces on the ground of people being dragged by force or of people already dead being dragged.

This is typical behavior of a fanatic collaborator.

Rather than taking the lead in the offensive, they concentrate on the weakest parts of the defensive line, creating casualties and attempting to shake up the entire defensive line.

The group was led by an elderly man with a dignified appearance and a certain sense of authority.

“This is Kang Jeong-woo.”

The deep voice that conveyed the courtesy and respect for others that was ingrained in him, as well as the inner strength, was the stereotype of the judges, the social leaders that we saw in the media.

As the Defender says, he was a former district court judge before the war.

It was common for people of such social standing to be appointed leaders in the early days of a shelter’s operation.

However, as destruction accelerated, personal ability and leadership became more important than social prestige, and most were driven out, leaving only the strong.

The fact that he has maintained his position in this current means that this man, Kang Jeong-woo, is a talented person who was not lacking in fame before or after the war.

“······As you may have already heard, one of our men who was on his way to deliver a night snack to the base saw people being dragged away by the believers, and a monster standing tall beyond them.”

I experienced the gimmick of being a fanatic accompanied by a monster when I stopped by Incheon some time ago.

I haven’t confirmed the exact truth of this, but I think it’s quite possible that some fanatics use monsters as weapons.

If the fanatics launch an attack with monsters against the vulnerable eastern defense line, which is guarded by people from the shelter, while the monster offensive intensifies in the north, wouldn’t our defense line be in serious danger?

“Can monsters be controlled?”

Although Cheon Yeong-jae seemed skeptical, Defender, who had seen and heard a lot, testified that he had heard similar urban legends many times.

The so-called messenger of God helps believers punish enemies.

Well, apart from that, Kang Jeong-woo seemed to be a very trustworthy person among those around him.

As the saying goes, if you want to see someone, look at the people around them, the people in the shelter around Kang Jung-woo did not hide their respect for him in their trivial attitudes.

“Director. Then, should I show you the Samil Apartment area as well?”

“I’ll go, Director. Hyun-soo’s father worked overtime yesterday too. He stayed up all night at Jong-pil’s funeral.”

“I will go too, Director.”

Every time they called Kang Jeong-woo, they always called him ‘Director’, and there was no sign of discomfort in their attitude.

It’s a story about following that man from the bottom of my heart.

“······.”

To be honest, my stomach felt a little upset.

I have also led many people and received much respect, but I have never had so many people truly follow me.

Because the respect for me is closer to respect for my achievements as a professor, not for myself.

After finishing talking with Kang Jeong-woo, I went outside.

The shelter staff decided to guide us towards the apartment where the accident occurred.

As is always the case in these situations, there is nothing particularly interesting to be found even when you go to the scene.

Scattered belongings, bloodstains, and marks where people had been dragged.

I tried to find what looked like monster footprints, but the monster in the photo looked like a necromancer type.

The Necromancer type is one that moves while slightly floating in the air.

The idea is that you don’t have to put your hunched, tree-like legs on the ground unless necessary.

However, it was only checked at the level of reviewing the attack path and battle progress.

And so another day was coming to an end.

A stubborn man with a face who was unusually reserved and didn’t talk to anyone else while searching through the ruins muttered and grumbled.

“That kid isn’t even the chief justice······.”