Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 439
Only Noblemtl
9 174. Transformation (3)
To be honest, I don’t like my junior very much.
It seems like only yesterday that I was a pure and innocent girl, but when I see her being more worldly than me and being so obsessed with “silly” things, I lose all my sense of self.
But it took a long time to come together.
They trusted each other to the point of entrusting their lives to each other.
Kim Da-ram might be disappointed in me and not like me very much right now, but what can I do?
We’ve been working together for so long.
We hate each other, but we are in sync.
The moment I looked into her eyes, I knew what she was trying to say.
“What does that mean?”
I ask with an ominous feeling of foreboding.
Kim Da-ram looked around.
A gesture that seemed to ask if there was a wiretapping device.
He shook his head.
My office is as guarded as my bunker.
The windows were all barred except one, and that one window was chained.
Before leaving work, he inserts a business card in the crack of the door and sets several traps, including an infrared motion detector inside the room.
In addition, at least once in the morning, the entire room is scanned with a bugging device search device.
I didn’t do this until Nemesis, but since then it’s become a daily routine that feels like it’s become second nature.
As a side note, he also keeps his distance from young, beautiful women he doesn’t know who approach him personally.
Should I say that I have a hunch?
I had a feeling that I shouldn’t get caught.
It is only natural that those who have gained a voice and status are subject to greater restraint.
Although it was buried in a bunker for a long time, it held the top spot for a long time.
I know how jealousy and envy, checks and balances, work.
“Squirrel. You know my personality, right?”
When I spoke with a hint of confidence, only then did Kim Da-ram pull back his upper body that had been leaning toward me and let out a shallow sigh.
“I know, but.”
“what?”
“I don’t like what you do on the Internet.”
“What are you talking about?”
“There’s this guy named Captain M9 who keeps posting stuff that my senior used to write. Ha. Well, I’ll keep my mouth shut, but it’s kind of like that.”
“What about Captain M9? Mguji Mgu. He’s the guy who used to live in that slanted apartment. Where does he live now? It’ll be hard to find a slanted house tailored to him.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Ignore what that guy posts. He’s just blinded by jealousy.”
He stopped talking there.
It’s a good choice.
I almost added, “like you.”
The topic, which had been briefly directed towards Emgu, then changed back to Woo Min-hee.
“······They’re busy preparing for the election these days. What the Jeju kids are doing right now feels like it’s crossing the line. But even so, I’m Woo Min-hee. What’s more disturbing is that he’s been putting up with this kind of treatment for over a month, given his personality. Even though it’s obvious to anyone that the Jeju kids are trying to kill him.”
Kim Da-ram’s worries seem to be based on a woman’s unique intuition rather than objective evidence or confirmation.
But I don’t ignore that intuition.
Kim Da-ram’s sense is sharp.
She herself is born with the qualities of a top predator in her ecosystem, like a large cat.
If my memory serves me right, Kim Da-ram’s intuition has never been wrong.
The intuition of a great sniper like hers always includes observation and experience, and above all, she does not tolerate even a single mistake.
After promising Kim Da-ram proper election support, I started my own investigation.
“Ah, teacher. It’s been a while.”
Woo Min-hee had been building her own territory for a long time, but she didn’t have a single person she was close to.
The only person I had as a personal secretary was my disciple Song Yu-jin.
Although she was a low-level Awaken, she had problems with her fighting ability and was assigned to the rear guard.
Now, he says he works as a pensioner, buying things for Woo Min-hee that she needs.
I met Woo Min-hee before, but to know her true intentions, I need the testimony of those around her.
“Chief Woo? Haven’t we met before?”
“That is true, but.”
As always, people age quickly.
My student, who seemed like a girl even during her bunker days, now exudes the aura of a socially jaded office worker, not just a fresh graduate.
Well, it was hard work.
I’ve been through a lot of different things.
Now, there are clear signs that it has been put down to some extent.
If it’s beneficial to your life, then it’s not such a bad thing.
After five years of war, it is finally the living who walk on their own two feet, not the ghosts of the past.
Being alive itself is a blessing and an honor.
He handed the prepared gift to his disciple.
“Wow. What is this? Sugar?!”
He nodded.
“Gain some weight. You seem to have lost a lot of weight lately.”
“Thank you, teacher. Really. I didn’t do anything this time······.”
It’s been a while since we’ve lived in a world where a single sugar can be enough to earn you a heartfelt thank you, but it’s still disheartening to see someone close to me react this way.
“······Well, Chief. There’s nothing much you want or ask for. Just stay still on the top floor of that hotel.”
“Isn’t anyone coming to find you?”
“People who used to come to the nursing home that the owner of Woosojang used to run in Jeju Island tried to come without permission, but they were all cut off at the entrance. Other than those people, no one really comes.”
“I see.”
I expected it, but it’s nothing special.
If Song Yu-jin, who spends most of her time working beside Woo Min-hee, doesn’t know anything, then nothing really happens.
In the first place, it doesn’t seem like the Jeju Committee would let Woo Min-hee come into contact with other people.
The dangerous thing that Kim Da-ram expected might not happen.
As I was getting up from my seat after finishing organizing things, Song Yu-jin opened her mouth.
“Those nursing home people.”
A face that reminds me of something.
I was curious anyway.
What on earth is the relationship between Woo Min-hee and those old people?
There are too many of them to be relatives and their last names are all different.
“The CEO is tight-lipped, but when I listened to what the regulars who were in Jeju before said, they said that they were family members of former team members.”
“Is that true?”
It’s a sweet story, but it doesn’t make sense because the number of elderly people that Woo Min-hee was taking care of exceeded 100.
Even if the mission to break the rift requires a lot of sacrifice, wouldn’t the team members be precarious before their own mentality is broken if they are divided like that?
Song Yu-jin answered my question slowly but calmly.
“Well. I heard that when the director was in Jeju, it was completely different from now.”
“In what way?”
“I heard that you had a personality that was full of passion and a burning sense of mission.”
“Huh. Minhee?”
It’s unexpected.
I never thought Woo Min-hee would have that kind of side to her.
Unlike me and Kim Da-ram, she comes from a wealthy family.
Becoming a hunter is half the fun.
It wasn’t that there was any great mission or will.
The world simply gave her more talent than she deserved.
While children like me who had lost loved ones to monsters and were burning with a sense of mission were dropping out or seriously considering changing their career paths because they couldn’t endure the school curriculum, especially Jang Gi-yeong’s selection, Woo Min-hee passed the difficult exam without any problems.
It wasn’t like I put in a lot of effort like Kim Da-ram.
Woo Min-hee was a exemplar of the genetic theory of all things.
He was the kind of person who could have aimed for the top rank if he had worked harder and had a sense of purpose, even though he was satisfied with being in the upper-middle ranks.
It’s hard for me to imagine that someone like her could become a passionate leader.
Even back in the days of the Incheon Research Institute and the Paju Camp, she was sinking with similar crowds in decadent and withering places.
“I don’t know why. But if it’s the chief, there’s a possibility that he could change. He’s impulsive, isn’t he? He doesn’t seem to have the tenacity, though.”
“There is no such tendency.”
“It seems that during his prime, he had his own power like Kang Min-soo, the savior.”
“okay?”
“Yes. The person who told me this is also from the Woo So-jang faction. To be exact, they were kicked out from another faction and had nowhere to go, so they ended up taking refuge there.”
“Who is that person?”
“His name is Bae Taek-geun, and he disappeared while he was in Paju.”
Song Yu-jin spoke nonchalantly about the disappearance of Han Awaken.
“I see.”
“Anyway, according to what he said, the force of the chief of staff is the personal guard of the strong savior, Min? He said that although they are smaller in number, they are not inferior in skill or solidarity.”
“Away group?”
“of course.”
“······okay?”
He nodded and thought for a moment.
This is the first time I’ve heard of this story.
To begin with, little is known about Woo Min-hee’s time in Jeju.
Kang Han-min and Na Hye-in are the same, but the away activities of those above level 10 are kept confidential, so even people in Jeju have no way of knowing, so if they keep their mouths shut, outsiders like me have no way of knowing.
“But then an accident happened.”
Song Yu-jin said.
“I don’t know for sure. Mr. Bae said it was the first disaster to occur in Jeju.”
“okay?”
“Hundreds of people are dead or missing. In fact, missing inside a rift is the same as being dead, right?”
In that moment, the scars carved into Woo Min-hee’s face and the prosthetic arms and legs making sharp sounds flashed before my eyes.
Is it the impact of that incident?
I don’t know.
Because Woo Min-hee doesn’t talk about the past.
I knew full well that you weren’t the type of person to tell me just by asking, so I didn’t ask.
“The people you are currently serving are the families of the people who were involved in the accident at the time. I understand that they only gathered the elderly like that, and they helped find good jobs for the family members who are still old enough to work or are like younger siblings.”
“I see.”
I thought I was good at reading people, but it seems that wasn’t the case.
I never thought Woo Min-hee would have such a human side.
It feels like listening to an anecdote from someone completely different.
It’s almost like a transformation.
“Thank you for talking with me today.”
He expressed his sincere gratitude to his disciple.
“If you have any difficulties, please don’t hesitate to ask me. Don’t be so locked up like before.”
“Is that okay?”
“No matter what happens, aren’t you the only one who remembers my time as an instructor?”
“Thank you, Instructor!”
“Don’t you call me teacher?”
“I’m getting older, but I can’t say such embarrassing things in front of others.”
Song Yu-jin is happy.
It’s a face from the past that I haven’t seen in a long time.
I knew she was in a difficult situation, but there was nothing I could do.
My nose is blocked, who will help me?
I don’t know how long it will last in the new Seoul, but now there is something called a “kkeutbal”, even if it is small.
It might be possible to give a good position to one of your disciples.
Song Yu-jin, who I was really into, suddenly stops laughing and tries to think of something again.
Is this a kind of repayment?
I looked at my watch.
I have some time.
“This is something that even Baehunter was half-believing. Not long after that incident, Woo Sojang and Kang Hanmin, the savior, had a huge fight.”
“What? Woo Min-hee and Kang Han-min?”
“Yes. They say that the two of them fought on a scale similar to a battle between gods inside the rift.”
“Is it true?”
Honestly, I don’t believe it.
As expected, it seems like Song Yu-jin herself was just saying that.
“This is really the realm of the Kaderas······. It’s clear that there were times when they were on bad terms. I guess that’s why they came to Incheon?”
“I guess so.”
It’s probably better to ask yourself this when you get the chance.
That’s only when the atmosphere is really good.
Anyway, the disciple got enough information.
It seems like you have a good disciple.
“Oh, and, Teacher.”
“Not the instructor?”
“This is stuck in my mouth. I need to improve it, right? And this is nothing special. Earlier, the chief asked me what I usually do.”
“Yeah. Okay.”
“I think you use the computer a lot.”
“computer?”
“Yes. There’s that satellite internet, right? The instructor uses it too.”
For a brief moment, an expression of mixed contempt and bewilderment crossed Song Yu-jin’s face.
Surely you weren’t thinking of a skeleton when you made that expression?
I waited for her next words, feeling a small, bug-like shiver run down my spine.
“It seems like you’re mostly just on the Internet. You mostly just click the mouse, but sometimes you type on the keyboard.”
“With one hand?!”
“Are you hitting with both hands?”
Song Yu-jin asks with a serious expression.
“······.”
for a moment.
That’s not the problem.
“Did Minhee just say that he was playing the keyboard?”
“yes.”
Woo Min-hee has now resigned from all positions.
I’m not the type of person who writes or keeps a diary as a hobby.
The space where she can type on the keyboard is,
Yes, that’s right.
It’s the internet.
There is nothing but a bulletin board.
“Thank you, Eugene. See you next time!”
I immediately returned to the office and checked the bulletin board.
Search: gijayangban
Search for articles using Woo Min-hee’s nickname.
also.
She hasn’t written anything recently.
Not only on the Korean bulletin board, but also on foreign language bulletin boards.
Sometimes, typing on the keyboard amplifies my ominous feelings.
SKELTON: (Skeleton please) Vivabot.
I am grateful that I can exert strong influence beyond my name and on the entire board.
Kim Da-ram says the Internet ruined him, but it’s the opposite.
The Internet has given me many gifts.
Message from VIVA_BOT014: What’s going on, Skeleton?
The connection with Vivabot is one of them.
SKELTON: I’m really sorry, but is there any information on whether a friend named gijayangban sent you a message recently?
Message from VIVA_BOT014: (Suspecting VIVA bot) What is it…? Do you want to access personal information again this time…? Even if you are Skeleton, it goes against my conscience as a bulletin board administrator that you continue to abuse your authority like that······.
SKELTON: Is it possible that the guy who sent the message is a guy named armeegruppe_B?
Message from VIVA_BOT014: Just a moment.
“······.”
I drank tea and waited for an answer.
I can hear someone speaking outside.
You can also feel the typical excitement of an election season.
As time passed by, Vivabot answered.
Message from VIVA_BOT014: That’s right.
Message from VIVA_BOT014: I sent the message only to that user.
The answer is set.
Message from VIVA_BOT014:
armeegruppe_B.
This is Kim Byeong-cheol.