Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 399



Only Noblemtl

Episode 399 162. Bridge (1)

Two weeks have passed since the monsters’ offensive began.

So far, the city is holding up well.

There is sufficient ammunition and shells, and the morale of the citizens is high.

Citizens who had free time spent their time climbing up tall buildings around the bridge, which had been designated as a kill zone, and watching the monsters being annihilated by artillery fire.

Emgu went even further and uploaded a video of this battle to Viva! Apocalypse!, gaining a certain amount of popularity.

But those who know the truth will never say that our current situation is good.

“Strong waves confirmed in Paju Crack! Presumed to be a large-scale eruption!”

Twice a day, the Paju Crack spits out monsters.

A grayish-white fog has formed around the rift, making reconnaissance by satellite or high-altitude drones impossible.

When the medium-sized unmanned drone piloted by Hong Da-jeong took the last shot of the Paju Crack area through the foggy area, prepared for losses, the number of monsters we could see was immeasurable.

It is estimated that there are at least 1,000 of them.

The group we are currently holding back is only about seven to ten, but compared to that, there are monsters of various sizes and types waiting around the crack.

To make matters worse, the monster was adopting a change that I had anticipated while dealing with the dancer type before.

Tracking results for a medium-sized group discovered in the Dongducheon area about 10 days ago and designated ZA-3 have recently been posted.

[ Status report on ZA-3 group ]

[ Not destroyed ]

It is common knowledge to anyone who has dealt with monsters that the main enemy of monsters is not humans, but the Earth’s environment itself.

Before it was discovered that monsters could use short-distance jumping – teleportation – if they couldn’t find their way, scholars even envisioned a Monster Sized Maze (MSM) to trap monsters and make them wander around, rather than operating expensive facilities like kill zones.

It is generally accepted that monsters that emerge from the cracks begin to disappear the moment they touch the Earth’s environment, and their lifespan generally does not exceed a week at most.

In particular, combat types of medium size or larger cannot last more than 3 days in areas other than erosion zones.

As we all know, the only ones that can survive in the Earth’s environment are the invasive species – small species, and even then, they have to take over an area and erode the surrounding area with the disgusting substances they produce.

Even penetrative types can barely last a week if they don’t settle down in one place.

But the results that came out this time easily shattered existing established common sense.

A herd of medium-sized species captured 10 days ago is still active.

It is a story about a being that survived independently for more than 10 days in an extreme environment on Earth and penetrated deep into human territory.

The fact that there were dancer types mixed in with that crowd only adds to my confidence.

That’s right.

They are changing themselves.

As the human forces that had been actively blocking them fell, their fighting power was reduced and in its place, they filled it with continuity that allowed them to roam the human realm for a little longer.

That’s probably why the dancer type has become so weak that it looks dull compared to the past.

“This is not a good sign.”

The group soon disappeared one by one, starting with the medium-sized species, but the idea that the medium-sized species had survived for more than a week and was roaming the land of humans was an unbearable eeriness.

A group of monsters can travel 40 to 50 kilometers a day.

What we need to be careful about here is that their march is completely different from that of humans.

While human marches are purposeful and involve moving forward in a straight line toward a destination, the movement of monster hordes is like floating objects, with directions mixed up, sometimes stopping for long periods of time for no reason, and occasionally even including going back the way they came.

Therefore, it is meaningless to measure their average speed, and we should look at the average time it takes.

It takes an average of 48 hours for monsters that appear in the Paju Crack to get here.

They can only operate around here for 24 hours.

But the fact that they are active for a longer period of time means that they may attack from a different direction than the route we have assumed.

The worst case scenario would be if they bypass the area around Hanam City and cross the river into the legion territory that is out of our control, targeting our weak flank.

Although it is unlikely, the enemy has a general type.

According to the records of the Battle of Beijing, which were reexamined in Chinese military data, there were clear records of some monsters appearing in the weak front lines classified as the extinction limit, causing chaos in the front lines.

A meeting was called regarding this matter.

But there was more bad news waiting for us.

Bridge people.

It was confirmed that some of the refugees living on the bridge had somehow managed to reattach a section of the broken bridge.

The bridge is the farthest from the new Seoul, but the closest to Paju.

*

K Bridge.

The bridge that suddenly appeared and turned the command center into a battlefield was one of the 28 Han River bridges that were destroyed by precision bombing by the Chinese army immediately after the war.

South Korea also retaliated by destroying China’s Shansha Dam, but that does not mean the broken bridge will be rebuilt.

With China virtually without the ability to conduct combat, the government attempted to repair several broken bridges, but there were priorities.

The bridges with the highest traffic volume and strategic value were rebuilt.

K Bridge is located the westernmost of the 33 Han River bridges and has less traffic than other bridges, so it was not included as a priority for restoration.

Some refugees have settled on the broken bridge.

The so-called bridge people are a group of people who live on the upper and lower parts of the bridge.

I once saw it in person when I went to Ganghwa Island on a military boat.

Although they are also a group that started out in a shelter, they are not on good terms with other shelters.

Here, let’s borrow the words of someone who was in another shelter.

“They are exclusive and selfish bastards. Each shelter has a different color, but none are as disgusting as the ones living on that bridge.”

“Well, don’t even let them come near you. They’re the ones who start shooting first. You know it all.”

“There’s a rumor going around that they survived by eating people during difficult times. It’s certain that they burned people and zombies to heat their homes last winter.”

Visibility deteriorated as temperatures dropped and heavy snow fell.

The photos taken in the snow showed a roughly reinforced bridge made of steel plates and a refugee settlement living on top of it.

The faint glow of light in the photo suggests that the Bridge People were living there at least until the time of the photo.

“We have to cut off the bridge immediately.”

Immediately after hearing the news about the K Bridge, Kim Byeong-cheol, like a soldier, gave the order to use all means at his disposal to cut down the repaired bridge.

I agree with you.

But there is a further issue to consider here.

He called in an engineer and showed him the restored bridge in blurry pictures.

They spoke in unison.

“This requires heavy equipment. It’s not easy to get that much steel plate, and to connect it to a section that’s over 30 meters long, you need a crane.”

Someone helped repair the bridge.

There is only one force that can be guessed.

This is the Jeju power that is located in Ganghwa Island and Incheon.

I checked with Gangwha through the communication channel.

The government official in charge of the contact shook his head.

“They say they don’t know anything.”

In other words, Jeju’s position is that it has nothing to do with the K Bridge repairs.

My guess is pretty off, but if that’s the case, just ask the Bridge People.

People in the shelter with connections to the Bridge People attempted to communicate with them using their own frequency.

“What’s going on?”

As other shelter residents have said, they were quite exclusive.

Although he responded to the communication, he seemed reluctant and when we asked him a few questions,

“I don’t know about that. What did you do to help us that you’re telling us to do this and that now? We didn’t receive anything from you, so we have nothing to give you.”

They violently broke off communication.

Kim Byeong-cheol said.

“I think it would be better to blow it up.”

I agreed this time too.

But the problem is timing.

I don’t think that blowing up a place where hundreds of people live just because you’re angry right now is something that a group that calls itself the government of the Republic of Korea should do.

Woo Min-hee also had similar thoughts.

“Blowing it away right away might not be a good idea.”

She later attended the event and talked about her conflict with people from Jeju, something we didn’t know much about.

“Anyway, once this battle is over, those humans are going to come here and take a spot each. Naturally, what would they do first to take a spot here? Of course, they have to kick out all the guys above them.”

She slowly turned towards me, Kim Byeong-cheol, and other high-ranking administrative officials.

“I’m saying this because I’m going to find fault with it somehow.”

Kim Byeong-cheol said after hearing that.

“No, this place might be ruined. What do you mean, Chief?”

Kim Byeong-cheol looks like he just can’t understand.

Me too.

But unlike Kim Byeong-cheol, my heart was somewhat accepting of this situation.

“······.”

It’s never ending.

This is human struggle.

Even when faced with monsters, enemies of all mankind, humans did not stop their fight.

In fact, many nations have chosen the path of mutual destruction, unable to let go of old feelings even as monsters advance toward their brothers and sisters.

Perhaps the survival of the new Seoul may be a good thing for Jeju’s lucky friends.

They simply cannot tolerate even the slightest “possibility” of harm to themselves.

“Minhee.”

After the meeting, I called Woo Min-hee.

“Yeah, senior.”

She seemed to be reading my mind to some extent.

If you look at that attitude, which looks at you with a pitiful gaze and a bitter aftertaste.

“······When this battle is over.”

“I know.”

Woo Min-hee nodded.

“I guess it’s right to leave. I was going to suggest it anyway. I didn’t have a chance to say anything because I thought it was more likely that you’d lose than win.”

She sighed.

The prosthetic arm, which was always clashing with her and making a sharp noise, was bent over and did not move, unlike her.

Woo Min-hee smiled weakly.

“But still, senior, you are Jang Gi-yeong’s disciple.”

“What does that mean?”

“In terms of knowing how to do politics.”

“When did I ever do politics?”

“You’ve done this a lot before, haven’t you?”

“?”

“And there.”

Woo Min-hee ignored my stern protest and stared out the window, which was covered in smoke and roughly finished with silicone instead of glass and made of acrylic.

“You’re amazingly good at knowing when to leave.”

I asked cautiously, looking at her empty profile.

“······Are you going to stay here?”

“Where else would you go?”

The moment I heard those words, I remembered the plan Woo Min-hee had made when he lived next to Paju.

“No cracks?”

Woo Min-hee suddenly burst out laughing.

It was a refreshing smile that made all the foggy gloom disappear.

“I thought about that seriously again.”

She said, looking at me with a face that still had the afterglow of a smile.

“Honestly, I thought it was crazy.”

“······.”

I think so too.

No matter how dark it is under the lamp, it is a madman’s idea to live in a rift with an environment completely different from Earth.

“senior.”

Woo Min-hee opened her mouth again.

The moment I saw her strange expression, I unconsciously felt anxious that I might have made a grave mistake.

“If I really have nowhere to go, then can I go to my senior’s house?”

The two words that came to mind at that moment were “What?!” and “What?”

Personally, I would choose the former.

This is a bit more trendy and can show your dislike more strongly to the other person.

But behind her smile, I could clearly read her fears and concerns.

“······.”

Sometimes I hate it.

I think I’m a little quicker on the uptake than other people.

Anyway, one thing is certain.

My junior is afraid.

Not only the monsters standing in front of our city trying to destroy us, but also the conflict between humans that will come after them.

Maybe I’m afraid of Kang Han-min, the savior I once knew, who is now walking a completely different path.

Woo Min-hee is waiting for my answer.

It’s time to answer.

Let’s organize our thoughts.

Since our school days, she and I have always kept our distance and were not close.

Yet, we lived in the same era and experienced many turbulent events.

I hate to say this, but I felt like I could communicate better with Woo Min-hee than with other women.

Of course, I don’t intend to deny that she is a huge burden, but my junior is trembling.

I barely managed to hold onto the trembling muscles around my mouth,

“huh.”

I told her.

“whenever.”

I thought for a moment.

There will come a day when I will regret saying these words.

But even that regret is a luxury that can only be enjoyed after winning this fight.

“Senior, are you crazy?”

It seems like our Kim Da-ram was hiding and eavesdropping on the conversation, but that’s another story.

“Are you crazy, senior? What on earth were you thinking, a woman like that······. Listen carefully, senior. Senior is old, but that woman and senior. Ah! There’s a saying that her birthday is early. We’re the same age! Same age! Senior may have some weird sides, but he’s a really good person. Compared to him, that woman. Sigh······ Let’s stop talking. And this is advice from me as a housewife. One of his hands······.”

“Stop looking at other people’s breasts and go home and do housework.”

“!!”

For now, I’ll focus on surviving.

K Bridge must collapse.