Hiding a House in the Apocalypse - Chapter 449



Only Noblemtl

449 178. Travel (3)

Fear borders on madness.

When the cracks opened and large populous countries like India and Africa were in trouble, few expected them to collapse.

Especially, no one predicted that India, which had the potential to become a superpower, would collapse.

As India collapsed so abruptly, the leaders of each country were most terrified.

They knew information that the general public did not know, and they could see how the rifts and monsters were quickly destroying the human realm and wiping out the human race.

When the rift that was thought to be a god-given opportunity was revealed to be a gate to hell that would bring destruction, each country began to struggle for its own survival.

Countries with ethnic conflicts have been driven to the brink of death, as the United States has, and countries with political instability have used divisions as a means of legal dictatorship.

Even the so-called “first-class countries” were no exception.

They imprisoned and erased those who told the truth, and studied forbidden technologies that were not permitted.

In the face of the major theme of survival, other minor themes were ignored.

It was a natural progression for the discarded theory of eugenics to rise from its grave.

Over 10 levels away.

The new age heroes, also known as the Alpha Awakeners, were seen as the only solution to save humanity from a massive monster invasion.

“It was a plan that started with a simple idea. The strongest Awaken. If the genes of the strong people spread widely, wouldn’t there be dozens, maybe even hundreds of strong people in 10 years? Since there are 8 cracks in South Korea and North Korea combined, I thought that if I just put in ten mini strong people per crack, I could be safe from the cracks without any problems.”

Eden was a twisted place where that absurd idea became reality.

But the plan’s implementers were neither as careful nor as cool-headed as the Chinese scientists.

They had already committed the crime before they even collected the data.

Egg donors were plentiful.

Giving birth to a child of a hero who would go “viral” at the national level, such as Kang Han-min, was considered a mission of the times and something that would bring national glory.

Of course, it is true that Jeju Island offered a sweet bait to women who were anxious about the future.

“······There was pressure on Senior Na as well.”

Woo Min-hee continued speaking with a shallow sigh.

“To Na Hye-in?”

Her gaze was fixed on a girl who looked eerily similar to herself.

“They asked for egg donation. Since the male side had somehow achieved success, it seems they wanted to see the female Awaken’s descendants in some way as well.”

“That happened.”

There was talk that I should donate sperm too.

However, sperm donation and egg donation are different in terms of difficulty and the psychological pressure they cause.

Right now, it’s not like an egg comes out just by touching a little thing like me.

“Senior Na. He’s strong and resilient, but if you get to know him, he has many weak points. As you know, he’s a typical strong-on-the-outside type of person. I was scared. I refused, saying I would never do it, that I couldn’t do it. But they were persistent. Even when I refused like that, they persisted and later even went to Na’s younger sister and asked for eggs.”

“······.”

It seems like they felt the burden too.

The burden of the shadow of honor and glory.

“I said I would do it instead.”

I saw Woo Min-hee.

Her gaze still remained on the girl who resembled herself.

“I couldn’t stand seeing people gaslighting and harassing me anymore. Those people knew that I was weak-willed, so they harassed me even more. I said I would do it.”

Before I got to know her well, I didn’t think she was a very good person.

Despite knowing of a series of good deeds she had performed, I still had a lot of bad memories from my school days that made me think she was impulsive, incomprehensible, and dangerous.

Well, it’s true that she’s a dangerous woman.

It’s true that just being together makes you feel better.

But at least she had the kindness to be kind enough, even sacrificial, to the person she loved.

It’s not very visible when viewed from a distance.

“But I gave you a clue. Even if it was an egg donation, it was a part of me, right? I was vehemently against getting involved with someone like Kang Han-min.”

“Did those people listen to you?”

Woo Min-hee snickered and opened and closed his hooked fingers.

“I decided to check the results of the eggs I donated every year. I told them calmly that if anything strange was found, I would kill everyone in the lab. Oh, I’m not angry. I told them quietly, clearly, looking into their eyes.”

“I see.”

I’m not sure, but anyone who dealt with her must have had a hard time.

“They also said they would verify the identity of the sperm donor who would combine with my eggs. They also made it clear that they would never allow a swindler. The original purpose was to have the eggs discarded. But they made an interesting suggestion?”

After hearing that, I saw a girl who resembled Woo Min-hee.

The girl, who had been looking at her for a moment, turned her gaze and looked at me.

The moment our eyes met, an eerie sensation ran down my spine.

“No way. That’s what you’re suggesting?”

“What you think is right, senior.”

Woo Min-hee looked at his own clone and gently placed the tip of his hooked finger against the glass window.

“That child is 100% me, with nothing to add or subtract.”

*

“Some children are already showing strong aptitude for being away. Although we haven’t officially opened them yet, we are continuously observing and paying attention to them and are quickly cultivating them into new saviors who will contribute to the survival of the Republic of Korea.”

The head of Eden was called the director.

She was a nice-looking woman in her early 50s.

She came out of her room, where she had been moderately luxurious, to meet Woo Min-hee and gave her a tour of the facility called Eden.

There was a lot of pride in that posture and voice, but I felt a sense of rejection towards that posture and voice.

Since when did it start?

The standards of right and wrong have collapsed.

At least before I lost my family, there was a just good and a distinct evil to contrast it with.

When I came to my senses, those standards had collapsed.

Traditional values ​​were fingered and ignored, and only the realistic and worldly were given priority.

Material values ​​represented by money dominated society as a whole.

The pride that the director has is probably one of the byproducts of such a distorted world.

“The Chinese data that Hunter Park Gyu obtained is excellent data. However, it is not a new theory. We have been hypothesizing from experience that the phenomenon called Awakening may have a negative effect on the preservation of the human species. However, we did not have the conditions to conduct such experiments on a large scale like China, and research ethics were not damaged to that extent.”

It is noteworthy that she shows more interest in me than in Woo Min-hee.

Soon she answered my questions.

“Awakening alone is not the answer. Perhaps the children here can take responsibility for an era, but these children cannot leave the future. It seems that we need more outstanding and strong human genes like Park Gyu Hunter, who are not tainted by cracks.”

Looks like I need my genes too.

The answer is set.

“I see it differently.”

The director smiled.

“What does Hunter Park Gyu think?”

I added, recalling a consistent article I saw on the Internet.

“View in 3D.”

“yes?”

I stood up after letting her digest my internet humor.

I am no longer an A and the excuses are endless.

“Looks like there’s a problem in Seoul.”

“What’s the problem?”

The director tries to hold me back with a forced smile, as if he feels very sorry for me.

“Dongtan Mom is winning the election!”

“Hey, Dongtan Mom?”

“He is extremely dangerous.”

“Is that so?”

“We can’t just leave it like that. The whole of Seoul could be in danger.”

Woo Min-hee snickers.

I left the director’s office with her.

The director tried to say something behind my back, but I didn’t listen.

I left the facility.

Beyond the empty playground, there was a wall surrounding the entire city, including the facilities, and beyond that, the faint sight of Mt. Halla could be seen.

I saw the same scenery for a while.

The first to speak was Woo Min-hee.

“There was a time when I really hated that mountain.”

Those softly shining eyes seem to evoke something further than Mt. Halla, perhaps a scene from the past.

“······It looks a little different now.”

“How does it feel?”

“Just the mountain? I don’t really have any good memories of Jeju.”

She looked into the distance and smiled again.

Something funny seems to have occurred to me.

“It was a good decision to come with my senior.”

“why?”

“Senior, I don’t know when, but you’ve developed a knack for talking nonsense in important situations.”

“I see.”

“I have a feeling it will be the same here.”

She looked at me with a smile on her face.

There is something sticky in those eyes that is not usually seen.

I looked at the mountain, trying hard to ignore the goosebumps running down my spine.

“······You met Kang Han-min?”

Now I feel like I can ask.

“huh.”

Woo Min-hee answered lightly.

Contrary to my concerns, he doesn’t get angry about the background check and doesn’t even find fault with it.

There was a kind of innocence on his face that he had briefly glimpsed on the plane to Jeju.

“I’ve been thinking about what to do. In fact, I lived without much thought while I was leaving Jeju. I just lived as things happened, because I was alive. I knew what would happen in the future, and even if it did happen, it would only be bad things, but I tried to live without thinking as much as possible.”

“I don’t think it’s such a bad idea.”

Thinking a lot isn’t necessarily a good thing.

People who think too much die quickly.

Sometimes we need to be like a cat yawning while sunning itself on a fence, or a dog grinding its teeth while napping.

“When I let go of everything, I started to see things little by little.”

Woo Min-hee said with a shallow sigh.

Her gaze remained on the ground, on the playground where the children would have played.

“······Kang Han-min, what that human said isn’t entirely wrong. Those of us who have been chosen have our own assigned missions.”

I was chosen.

Did Kang Han-min think that way too?

The fact that I never once spoke about the subject, but received it in a similar way, resonates even more deeply in my heart.

“What do you think about Kang Han-min?”

It’s a question I’ve always wanted to ask, but never been able to.

According to the regular Awakens in Jeju, including Seung-Hwan Ahn, the Awakens who can cause waves can get to know each other better within the rift.

Rather than knowing and understanding someone’s thoughts, I would say that the direction and essence of humanity are felt in the form of a smell.

I’m not sure, but there’s a story that the stronger the Awaken’s power, the more sensitive the sense of smell becomes.

However, it is not known whether this is real or true, as there are only a few people who are over level 10 Awakened.

However, the reason Na Hye-in and Woo Min-hee pathologically hate Kang Min-soo is not just because of his mystical behavior.

During his school and Chinese days, he was unpopular and tended to be a loner, but that was because he lacked skills, and it was a different story from the hatred he felt for Kang Han-min as a person.

They see things I don’t know.

Woo Min-hee looked surprised at my question, but soon turned her gaze to the mountains, thought for a moment, and then spoke in a low voice.

“A dangerous person.”

“Can I ask what kind of risk you mean?”

“What kind of answer do you want to hear?”

A question with a hint of discomfort.

I guess it would be correct to say it correctly here.

I told her to weigh the future I was worried about and the answer I wanted to hear.

“······Does he want to become the king of humans? Or does he want to become the enemy of monsters?”

Woo Min-hee glanced at me and then turned her gaze to the sky.

The hooked fingers curled and unfolded several times.

A breeze, still cold but carrying a hint of spring warmth, passed between us.

Woo Min-hee’s eyes moved.

There were flowers.

It is still in the stage where it is about to bloom from a bud into a flower.

I think it looks like a cherry blossom, but it’s probably not a cherry blossom.

“It’s a white plum blossom.”

Woo Min-hee, who knows more about flowers than I do, told me the name of the flower.

and.

“I think it’s closer to the latter.”

Also answered my question.

“······.”

Was it true that what I felt in that crazy, morbid room was true?

Kang Han-min.

His and my goals are the same.

But just because the purpose is the same doesn’t mean that everything is the same.

Still, I don’t know what means the guy uses to achieve the same goal as me, and I feel more and more uneasy as time goes by.

I’ve known for a long time that my friend is not normal, but the reality that is revealed is always beyond the limits of my common sense and morality.

Right here, in Eden, it is the same.

Even someone as indifferent as me feels a tingling sensation in a corner of his heart.

Hundreds of girls were created from one man’s sperm.

“······.”

Watching someone means suspecting them.

Yes, that’s right.

I am suspicious of Kang Han-min.

If I trusted him completely, I wouldn’t have stayed in Seoul.

But maybe the reason I stayed in Seoul was because I still had something to protect.

I thought for a moment as I looked at the side profile of my junior looking at the mountain with a blank expression.

The answer was out there.

I already felt it.

Mother and daughter Rebecca gave me the answer.

“Did you come to see that kid?”

Woo Min-hee nodded silently.

“I didn’t even give it a name. It’s not even my child. It was created at their own will. To be honest, I haven’t thought about it or looked back on it for the past few years. I’ve never once thought of it as my child.”

She let out a deep sigh.

“But when I was about to do something big, he suddenly came to mind. What is it? Yeah. Okay.”

She looked back.

“Any traces of my life?”

He looked at her and asked her straight in the eye.

“Have you decided to go and die?”

Squeak-

Woo Min-hee’s hooked fingers clashed together, making a terrible sound.

But there is not a single waver in my gaze or my face.

“Why do you think so?”

“I may have been overtaken by you, but I think at least in China I’ve seen more guys like you than me.”

Woo Min-hee snorted.

“······What good is it for someone like me to live? The end of people like us has already been decided. Why did the spiral ship get pushed to such a degree? You don’t know, Senior. The burden we carried.”

“No.”

For a very brief moment, Woo Min-hee’s eyes shook slightly.

We also know that she is the 3rd ranked Over 10 Level Awaken and that she once had such a strong record that she briefly surpassed Kang Min.

QUEEN.

Her call sign foretold the future queen of the battlefield.

Aside from the fact that she was the queen of Seoul.

But at the same time, she is my junior.

This is Park Gyu’s junior.

I don’t take care of all my juniors, but I feel like taking care of this guy now.

“Don’t do useless things.”

“······.”

“If there’s something Kang Han-min wants, I’ll do it for him. And.”

We looked at the facility together, which she had been looking at with regret since earlier.

“That kid. If you can bring him, bring him.”

I feel Woo Min-hee hastily turn her head to look at me, but my gaze is already directed to a man who must be waiting for us thousands of kilometers away, beyond that towering mountain.

Kang Han-min.

I don’t think I can just watch that guy any longer.

“······.”

The guy needs a team leader.