Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 448



Only Noblemtl

448 178. Travel (2)

There was a time when all of South Korea’s resources were transported to Jeju.

Whenever a swarm of heavy transport planes passed by, even I, who was engrossed in the Internet inside the bunker, would sneak out and watch the convoy of transport planes heading south, creating contrails.

Booooooooooooooooo—

This is my second time going to Jeju.

The environment has changed in every way since I first went there.

Jeju Island, me, and Woo Min-hee, who is sitting across from me with her seat reclined and wearing an eye mask.

I still wonder why she wants to show me her child.

What on earth is she trying to tell me?

What is he trying to tell me through this unknown child he claims to be his daughter?

After a while, the transport plane took off and soon we arrived over Jeju Island.

A distance where your nose will touch the ground if you fall down.

It’s hard to believe that such a close island can feel so far away.

The Jeju I returned to was still desolate.

The massive walls and concrete structures that once separated the entire island remain an ugly sight on this once beautiful island, and the abandoned city adds to the island’s desolation.

But there are changes.

There is a bird.

On that island of death, once said to have left not a single bird behind, birds have come flying in from somewhere and are freely flying through the sky beside or beneath our wings.

Look at the land spread out beneath it.

The ominous gray-white color that had been hanging over the entire island is disappearing, and the empty space is being filled with the colors of the Earth that we are familiar with.

The ominous fog that had settled beneath Mt. Halla had cleared away, and the traces of the rippling cracks had completely disappeared.

Kang Han-min did it.

He finally closed the rift and drove the monsters out of Jeju.

Of course, it is true that there were enormous sacrifices during the process.

It is true that the people on this island are being forcibly taken back to the mainland by boat, and it is also true that on the island where people have left, children with only Awaken aptitude are being raised as warriors for the next generation.

“······.”

Woo Min-hee’s child is said to be in such a facility.

pop!

A sudden gunshot erupted from afar.

I turned my head towards the cockpit.

“What was that just now?”

Unlike passenger aircraft, military transport aircraft have open cockpits and cargo holds.

The pilot, who looked to be in his mid-40s, answered with a sly smile.

“I’m talking about beating up those Japanese guys.”

“japan?”

The copilot turned around and spoke for the pilot.

“I don’t know if you know, but Japan has completely collapsed recently. As recently as the first half of last year, it was touting itself as the only normal country left in East Asia, but in reality, it was festering inside and eventually leading to a complete collapse.”

We are the only passengers on the plane.

The spacious interior of the transport plane is empty.

The flight schedule itself consists of dropping us off and reloading the supplies accumulated in Jeju and sending them back to the mainland.

The pilot turned the nose.

As the small pieces of trash strewn about inside the tilted cabin were blown sideways as the aircraft tilted, we could see what the pilot was trying to show us.

It’s a warship and a ship.

Boom! Boom!

A South Korean warship is firing.

But no matter how I looked, the enemy ship did not appear to be a warship.

It’s an ordinary passenger ship.

but.

bang!

The passenger ship drifted in the water column caused by the merciless bombardment, and soon after, a shell hit the hull and it began to list sideways.

“Isn’t that a civilian ship?”

The pilot answered.

“That’s right. But you reap what you sow.”

He snorted.

“The Japanese also made fish food for people trying to cross over to Japan from Busan and Mokpo a few years ago.”

It’s a story I’ve heard before.

What I’m curious about is something else, a diplomatic issue.

“Is the Japanese government just sitting still?”

The pilot laughed loudly.

“It’s okay. There’s no problem.”

“Why is that?”

I wondered how you could be so certain.

The pilot spoke with a hint of humor in his voice, without a hint of doubt.

“Because they are anti-nationals.”

Unpatriotic.

Are you saying that you are not a citizen?

“He left the beautiful country of Japan on his own two feet. Isn’t he an anti-national?”

We entered the runway amidst the indifferent gunfire.

It was impossible to describe in a word how it felt to return to the only paradise left in South Korea amidst real-time slaughter.

“Hunter Park Gyu. And Director Woo Min-hee.”

It was certainly true that they were taking everyone out of Jeju.

Even the airport had only a minimal number of staff.

Most of those moving around the spacious airport lobby were robots.

“Are you going to Eden?”

The female employee who greeted us politely asked the manager.

Woo Min-hee let out a shallow sigh and nodded.

She took the first step and asked the female employee.

“Excuse me, what is Eden?”

I can guess roughly what it is.

I want to make sure.

It’s my personality that I don’t want to just leave things as guesses.

She stared at me for a moment with a mechanical smile as if she didn’t understand my question, then soon her mind wandered and she answered with a deeper smile.

“This is where the children are.”

She handed me her business card.

The name of the organization was written above the name Kim Yu-ram.

[Elementary Defense school of Exceptional Nation]

It probably looks like an abbreviation for this complicated English word.

Woo Min-hee, who was walking ahead, spoke coldly.

“It’s a name that was made up haphazardly.”

I don’t know what the intention was behind its creation, but it seems clear that the abbreviation for that organization is Eden.

The name of the facility, “Eden,” gives rise to several food for thought.

“······.”

Especially when it comes to being connected to Kang Han-min, a guy who seems like he can never be reached.

Before boarding the plane to Jeju, I briefly investigated the current situation around me through my own route.

It is an obvious fact that there was contact between Kang Han-min and Woo Min-hee.

It is unclear at what point the two reached an agreement, but it is undeniable that there was some kind of deal between them.

The information was provided by my old internet friends, the Defender siblings.

*

I have a face-to-face meal with the Defender siblings at least once every two weeks.

No matter how close of an internet friend you are, if your heart grows distant, the distance between you grows distant. I thought that making space for each other in this way would be the only way to maintain the relationship that was so hard to build.

Human relationships also require maintenance.

This is the only thing Foxgame said that really resonates with me.

Although I myself did not properly maintain it, there are no people left, but I think it is an appropriate expression because it clearly shows the characteristics of the contradictory character called Foxgame.

As the threat of monsters was eliminated and the surrounding environment stabilized, the production of goods in the new Seoul steadily increased, resulting in improved living standards in many ways.

“Team Defender”, led by a defender, is treated better than other combat organizations due to the nature of their mission.

The fanatic hunt is something that even the most ardent members of the Chinese Communist Party have been waving their hands and struggling to get away from.

Who would want to do something that involves tightrope walking on the line between belief and conscience, let alone risking it?

But doing dirty work means gaining a lot of opportunities and wealth.

“Jeju area. They call it the committee. Some of the committee members there want to become friends with us.”

Hong Da-jeong opened her mouth, holding a precious pre-war carbonated beverage in her hand.

She snorted.

“Looks like you need a hand to do the dirty work.”

Certainly, Da-jeong has insight.

Defender has her own insight, but she has a broader perspective and a feminine intuition.

“They are turning their attention away now, saying they are holding an election, but how long will that last? Sooner or later, they will do as they please again. Just like they did with Seoul before.”

Certainly, the current Defenders, or rather his group, are in fact a state-sanctioned terrorist group.

Could this be considered an extension of the white terrorist group that was rampant during the liberation of South Korea?

They have an advantage over the white terrorist groups in that fanatics are easier and less intrusive enemies than the Communists.

But the endings of such terrorist groups are usually bad endings.

He opened his mouth looking at the can of cola in Hong Da-jeong’s hand.

“Wouldn’t it be better to keep a reasonable distance?”

“I won’t refuse what you give me, but I won’t get too close to you either.”

When Hong Da-jeong looked at Defender, Defender nodded.

“I wanted to listen to my brother.”

“I thought about it carefully.”

The defender looked around.

Hong Da-jeong nodded and took out some kind of mechanical device and stirred it around.

It probably looks like a wiretapping detection device.

Hong Da-jeong was acting cute.

“Recently, our organization has grown bigger, so we can’t trust everyone like we used to. I try not to be suspicious, but it can’t hurt to be careful, right?”

After a moment of silence, Defender finally opened his mouth.

“The chief said. There is a story that he went to find Kang Han-min. It is a reliable source. It is a story told directly by a person who is trying to be friendly with us.”

“Who is that?”

“Even if I told you, you wouldn’t know. He’s one of the members of the committee whose name isn’t made public.”

“Hidden class.”

Hong Da-jeong added.

“Hidden class?”

“They say that’s what they call each other. Among the committee members, the ones whose names are known are considered weak, and the ones whose names are unknown are considered real.”

“Still, I want to hear that name.”

The Defender thought for a moment and then answered.

“Kim So-wook. He doesn’t have a title. He’s not even on the committee list. But he’s definitely a powerful figure in the committee.”

“okay?”

It’s a name I’ve heard before.

Yeah, it’s the same name as one of those job-wakened bastards who worked Philcrum to death.

There is a possibility that they are two people with the same name, but for now, it would be best to be satisfied with just reproducing the first three letters of the name.

“I don’t know for sure, but I heard that Woo So-jang and Kang Han-min really don’t get along. The biggest reason Woo So-jang stayed in the mainland was because Kang Han-min was in Jeju. But that woman went to see Kang Han-min. Kim So-wook, who knows the story, couldn’t help but get excited and talk.”

That’s all the Defender knows.

Even if he is the head of a rising pro-government violent group, there is no way to know the contents of conversations between the highest levels of government.

There is only one thing that is important.

The fact that Woo Min-hee personally went to see Kang Han-min.

It seems likely that Woo Min-hee is making a series of requests to Kang Han-min.

Perhaps this plane carrying us may also be the result of such a request.

Now is the time to see the end of the request with your own eyes.

Woo Min-hee’s “intentions” are still unknown, and Kang Han-min’s “plan” is also a mystery.

But since I spent some time with Woo Min-hee, I feel like I know her vaguely.

Woo Min-hee seems to have decided on something.

That feeling is everywhere.

Perhaps finding an apartment in ruins was part of that determination.

It’s unclear what moved her, but the car was already entering the facility.

“This is Eden. It’s a top secret facility known only to a select few.”

Just because they’re secret facilities doesn’t mean they’re all deep underground, secret bases filled with high-tech equipment.

The place where Eden is located is a city that was once bustling with many chosen citizens.

It was a different area from where I lived, but it was probably close.

You can tell just by looking at the faded signs hanging everywhere.

[ Yonggil PC Room ]

[Jeju Original Black Pork Grill]

[ Playroom Sweet Potato ]

These facilities are no longer in operation.

“This is Eden.”

The training ground for future generations of warriors for the Republic of Korea was housed in a dilapidated building that used to be a school.

As expected of a security facility, soldiers with guns were on strict guard, and full-scale security equipment and unmanned killing devices could be seen installed in various places.

We entered the school building in an atmosphere that felt like walking on thin ice.

[ EDEN ]

A rather stylishly written sign greets us.

Beyond that, what greeted us was the sound of children’s laughter.

I saw Woo Min-hee’s face.

A frozen, expressionless face.

I walked slowly.

There was a large window across the hallway, and inside were several children playing actively under the guidance of their teachers.

“Okay, so what should we do now? Anyone who has something to say, please raise your hand~?”

“Me!”

“Me~!”

“Me! Me!”

I saw rooms divided into several halves like that.

It looks more like a daycare center than an educational facility.

If someone who knows nothing about it were to look at it, it would appear to be nothing more than a state-run child care facility.

But there is a corner here that even an ordinary person would find questionable.

Perhaps he asked me the same question.

“Why are there only girls?”

Woo Min-hee looked at me with a sneer.

“Why are you asking when you already know? You know that much, senior. Right? Isn’t it in the data you brought?”

also.

Is that so?

The kids here.

Are they all Awaken’s children?

There are no visible signs of mental retardation or other abnormalities.

There are two possibilities.

Those kids have either already been filtered out or only have one parent who is away.

“······How long has this facility been built?”

Woo Min-hee answered.

“Five years ago.”

“Is this when the war begins?”

“It’ll be after that. The plan is set.”

He nodded.

At the time, Awaken was considered the only solution to combat the rift.

It would be a natural progression to create a national youth development facility like this.

But there is another question that comes to mind while watching the children.

What should I say?

They don’t all look the same, but they all look similar.

Some of them even looked exactly like men I know.

Woo Min-hee, who had been observing me, seemed to have noticed my doubts and snorted as he opened and closed his hooked fingers.

“It looks like you noticed, senior.”

She gave me a look of surprise.

“I know you’re the type of person who doesn’t observe people very well.”

“When you live in a bunker, you end up having hobbies like that even if you don’t like them.”

“okay.”

She turned around.

For some reason, the sight of her drooping shoulders carrying a loneliness that she had never felt before.

She walked slowly, carrying her luggage on her back.

Suddenly, I noticed a piece of cloth wrapped around the prosthetic limb to muffle the sound.

But still, a mother is a mother.

Although it wasn’t an atmosphere that would make one smile, I felt a small smile appear on my lips.

But that was only for a moment.

Woo Min-hee said.

“The kids here. They all have the same father.”

“······Who are you?”

“The person that the senior is expecting, or rather, the person that he already knows.”

Kang Han-min.

Are they that guy’s kids?

Is this what he meant by Adam and Eve?

No, it won’t be.

It’s definitely a similar theme.

It is a concept. It also has the possibility of being inferred.

But this may not be the Adam and Eve he spoke of.

It’s a one-dimensional and low-level idea, and above all, it’s impossible to overcome cracks and monsters with this method.

He is looking at something else.

I haven’t seen it yet.

[ 5H-032 ]

Amidst her swirling thoughts, she stopped in front of a classroom.

She turned her head and looked at the child through the glass window with her clear eyes.

Among the similar-looking children, there was one child who looked particularly different.

Woo Min-hee said, looking at the child with blank eyes.

“Except for one thing.”

The girl felt our gaze and turned her head towards us.

A goosebump ran down my spine.

It had to be that way.

The child looking at us looked eerily similar to Woo Min-hee.