Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 441



Only Noblemtl

1 176. Salmon (1)

I already knew from Ha Tae-hoon’s testimony that the American soldiers had moved into the neighborhood next to my bunker and were busy with construction work every day, but I had no way of obtaining any information about the current situation of the Chinese soldiers who had helped us along with the American soldiers.

Even if we join forces on this occasion, most people still have negative feelings toward China.

What made me interested in the Chinese military was not my admiration or love for China, but pressure from the government.

*

While I was lying in the hospital, the Hunter organization I was managing was reorganized, and now, aside from Cheon Yeong-jae, there is not a single Hunter under my command.

You could say that we were messing around in Jeju, but to tell you the truth, we should have reorganized at least once.

At the time I was the “Captain,” the Hunter organization was divided into factions based on school graduates, academy graduates, volunteers after the war, Jeju Island dropouts, etc., and even within those factions, there were strong-willed foreign force groups like the Defenders.

At that time, the Hunter organization was not a single organization, but rather a union of several strong organizations.

It was no wonder that Kim Da-ram, who was quite capable, had difficulty leading.

This reorganization is aimed at reuniting the torn organization.

Organizations with significant expertise and achievements in specialized fields, such as the Defenders, are still recognized as independent, but the old-fashioned factions and origins of the past have all but disappeared.

During that process, I, who was in the hospital room, was completely excluded and pushed into a powerless position called “Room 803,” but that was actually a blessing for me.

My role is over after the Nemesis battle, and now all I have to do is watch over Kang Hanmin.

The human mind is fickle. I used to insist that my bunker was the best, but now that I’m living in the city and getting treated properly, I think it’s a little better.

He keeps muttering that he has to go back to the bunker, but he is having less and less intention of going back.

Strictly speaking, if you can live well in the city, it is better to live in the city.

The food is good, you don’t have to worry about looters who might storm the bunker at any time, and places with lots of people are fun to explore.

I am worried about the remnants of fanaticism who may attack me anytime and anywhere, but the Jeju government has clearly hidden my identity, and most importantly, I have a strong shield called Defender, so I don’t need to worry too much.

But good days don’t last long.

“Oh. I got another urge?”

After playing and eating for over a month, the government is starting to take notice.

Although he doesn’t dare to give orders or force anyone in front of the legendary hunter, Park Gyu, there is an atmosphere where he is subtly forcing him to do something, such as submitting a certificate of performance.

This trend will probably become stronger after the election.

Even if it is an election five minutes before the chaos, a government that has its citizens on its back can demand more than a government that does not.

I don’t like politics, but I think I have some political sense.

“You guys. Just catch the general type. What else do you want? We haven’t even played much.”

Cheon Yeong-jae is grumbling.

If it were normal, I would have responded, but this is the 12th time I’ve received a demand email.

“Youngjae, that’s not it.”

“why?”

“If you’re going to give me this much notice, I guess you should at least pretend to move.”

Yes, that’s right.

I need to do something soon.

The problem is that neither I nor the Jeju people know what to do.

I’m too big of a person for the Jeju people to tell me what to do, and I’m not even sure what I should do specifically.

The only thing I can do is hunt monsters, but even if it’s not me, the reorganized hunter organization is doing it diligently.

The new Hunter team, consisting of 1 regular Awaken and 3 regular Hunters that I introduced, is currently reclaiming Seoul in real time, moving in and out of the entire southern part of Seoul as well as the northern part of Seoul.

The only place I can go is in the base where the medium-sized combat type is stored, built by the small-sized infiltration type, but after the last battle, all the combat type storage types that were observed before have disappeared.

The area-storage combat units that were embedded like reefs throughout the city were the biggest headache blocking the city’s recovery, but they were surprisingly completely eliminated.

Perhaps in the last battle, the Nemesis type seemed to have pulled in even the sleeping combat type, saying it was “pulling” it.

Of course, monsters that escaped the eroded zone would have been cursed by the Earth and would have perished.

So this Nemesis battle had the unexpected effect of not only slaying the worst monsters, but also completely clearing the city’s reefs.

It’s a very positive sign, but the lack of monsters to catch deepens our worries in Room 803.

“······The problem is that there are no monsters to catch.”

“Why don’t you go down to the southern region? I heard that there’s a monster field there. I’ve heard that some of the military warehouses and government factories have been taken over by them and are rotting away.”

“I guess I have to do that.”

“what?”

He spoke calmly to Cheon Yeong-jae, who was looking at him with a puzzled look.

“Beatbox.”

“Let’s go south. If we go and catch one or two medium-sized species and retake the factory, wouldn’t that be an achievement?”

“How about beatboxing?”

“Oh, what the hell is beatboxing? Didn’t you bring it up first, senior? If you’re going to do it, do it right.”

“······.”

“why?”

“Isn’t the South a bit like that?”

There are things I don’t know, and to be honest, I don’t want to take risks.

The reason I stayed in Seoul was to watch over Kang Han-min.

My only purpose is to watch what my former colleague, whose goals are aligned with mine, will do, even though I don’t know what he will do.

In that situation, I don’t want to take on a risky task.

We need results that are safer, more comfortable, and yet more colorful.

Beep- beep- beep-

The radio rang.

It’s Cheon Yeong-jae’s.

“Oh. Are you Youngjae?”

I wondered who it was, and it was Ha Tae-hoon.

As I said before, he is preparing to return to the city.

As one of the parties involved in the subjugation of Nemesis, he deserves to be treated accordingly.

He has already been promised fairly good housing and treatment.

I heard you’re taking on the role of leader of the new hunter team.

This means that you don’t have to live a boring life like you did in Incheon.

Plus, he now has a wife.

Deep down, you will be longing for a comfortable and affluent life.

Not a narrow, dark bunker or something.

“I’m going to go soon.”

“when?”

“Soon. By the way, is Park Gyu here with you?”

Cheon Yeong-jae held out the walkie-talkie.

“Oh, senior.”

“Yeah. Park Gyu.”

It’s something new, but now Ha Tae-hoon doesn’t tell his seniors not to do something even when they call him that.

I guess it’s a story about overcoming a complex of your own.

“Almost done. Your bunker repairs are done.”

“okay?”

“Oh. I thought about it carefully. If there are few people living in the bunker as you said, then I think it would be much more efficient to hide the house than to fortify it.”

“yes?”

Fortification of my domain was not what I had hoped for.

Due to changes in circumstances, they have been forced to adopt group survivalism and have had no choice but to transform their territory into a fortress.

There is still no change in the belief that individual survivalism is the most advantageous in a harsh environment of destruction.

This is self-evident, given that even top predators like tigers have adopted protective coloration.

“American soldiers keep coming and going. Since I speak English, there’s no problem communicating, and the American soldier and his wife from the neighborhood next door mediate, so there’s no trouble, but you’re saying that one or two of them keep hanging around the territory and getting on my nerves? It wasn’t as bad when the weather was cold, but now that the weather’s warming up, we run into each other more often.”

No matter how friendly you are, if there is a large group next to you, problems are bound to arise.

Such problems, although not fatal, appear in various forms in everyday life.

“Once, I saw a bunch of dark-skinned men bathing naked in a stream under a bunker in broad daylight. Even though it was only 4 degrees Celsius, it was still freezing. They were breaking through the ice and bathing and falling down there. They said it was nothing, but the sound of them laughing and talking echoed upstairs, and it was really unpleasant to hear.”

If you can recall Ha Tae-hoon’s polite voice, then the stress that has built up over time must be greater than you can imagine.

“Anyway, I thought about this and that and changed the bunker. I don’t know if I’ll like it or not.”

“How did it change?”

Ha Tae-hoon snickered.

“You should come and check it out yourself.”

“At least give me a hint.”

“If you give me a hint, I can roll back?”

“Rollback?”

“Anyway, I’ll hear from you soon. Let’s meet up and see each other.”

Communication was lost.

“Senior Ha finally comes here too. The city is definitely better.”

Cheon Yeong-jae looked at me.

“Senior? What are you thinking?”

“A good idea occurred to me.”

“It’s not like it’s something weird like beatboxing, right?”

I don’t know why he’s so wary of beatboxing, but it’s probably because he’s never heard me beatbox.

Of course, beatboxing isn’t what’s important right now.

Ha Tae-hoon provided inspiration.

The keyword “US military” includes the Chinese military.

This is because Chinese troops are always paired up on opposite sides of the US military.

“Shall we go see the Chinese kids?”

I think it’s pretty good material.

Because it contains content that even Jeju people would be satisfied with, confirming the ending of a group that everyone perceives as a threat but at the same time no one wants to see.

Above all, I think I have developed a pretty good relationship with the Chinese military.

*

It is true that both the US and Chinese forces helped in the Nemesis battle, but the US forces were more decisive.

They even provided luxurious and expensive support in the form of air support.

Thanks to this, they have settled down in the neighborhood next to my bunker, and, to borrow Ha Tae-hoon’s expression, they are said to be working hard 24 hours a day.

Trucks loaded with construction materials are said to be coming and going at least twice a week.

When I inquired with the government, I was told that they were making demands for not only construction materials but also food, oil, electronic equipment, and engine parts.

On the other hand, no one in China is interested.

Immediately after the battle, all the Koreans provided was ship parts and some food and medical supplies that they had requested.

It is said to be a small amount, less than 1/10 of the US military.

I think it can’t be helped.

Maybe it’s the difference between an ally and an enemy.

Anyway, the Jeju government, which doesn’t like me very much, seemed to welcome the fact that they were checking the current status of the Chinese military.

“Yes? Would you really like General Park Gyu to check on the remnants of the Chinese army?”

“Yes. I have a connection with them. We fought together in a Nemesis-type battle. I think it wouldn’t be a bad idea to see for myself whether they will return to China as promised or whether they have other plans.”

That kind of thing happens.

Things that everyone feels the need for and thinks will have to be solved someday, but no one actually does anything about.

The remnants of the Chinese army they spoke of are exactly that kind of problem.

If I step forward to solve that difficult problem, you will naturally welcome it.

“Yes. Let me know if you have the necessary personnel and equipment. Helicopters are also possible. The air is a bit unstable these days, though.”

I want to ride a helicopter, but as the officer said, the weather is unstable.

Helicopters are something we use often, but they surprisingly fall easily.

Besides, unlike an airplane, if you fall, you are guaranteed to die.

In airplanes, there is an option to make an emergency landing like a glider by receiving lift depending on the pilot’s skill under certain conditions, but in helicopters, there is no other option but to crash the moment the rotor stops spinning.

“Let’s do it by car.”

There are some military jeeps left.

The armored car was nice, but the new jeeps being used in Jeju looked pretty good.

It has adequate bulletproof capabilities, is small in size, and has a smooth ride.

It also consumes synthetic oil well, so it doesn’t make as much noise as other vehicles that use synthetic oil.

In a situation like this, off-road capability would certainly be important, so we agreed to get a Jeep.

There was even talk of providing separate soldiers, but that was declined.

It’s a light trip.

Just me and Cheon Yeong-jae would be enough.

That was when I returned to room 803 after making a deal with the Jeju government.

As soon as I saw Cheon Yeong-jae’s rotten face, I instinctively knew that something unusual had happened.

“Hello, senior?”

Woo Min-hee came to see me.

She, who is now a full-fledged unemployed person, does not put any pressure on me to perform well in Jeju, unlike me.

It may be because it’s a bomb that you can’t touch, but it’s a huge burden that the bomb keeps coming to our office these days.

Maybe the reason the government is pressuring us to perform 12 times is because Woo Min-hee is always coming and going.

“I just heard you’re going to meet some Chinese guys?”

“······.”

Where did you hear that?

Surely you didn’t install a bug in my room?

It’s not like she has no criminal record at all.

“I’m going to be a reporter for the first time in a while. Will you take me with you?”

Woo Min-hee’s hooked fingers are twitching.

He doesn’t do psychopathic things like scratching glass like he used to, but honestly, I feel uneasy whenever I see those uselessly sharp, hooked fingers.

“······.”

I knew it.

Someone has to shoulder Woo Min-hee’s burden.

At least when I returned to the new Seoul, I couldn’t have imagined that it would be me.

“You want to go too?”

“Why? No?”

Good is good.

At least if Woo Min-hee is by my side, my chances of dying will decrease.

Cheon Yeong-jae is looking at me with a longing look on his face, but there’s nothing I can do about it.

“······let’s go.”