Hiding a House in the Apocalypse-Chapter 169.2: The Question (2)
A rain of annihilation fell over the fog-covered zone.
With each thunderous blast, flashes twisted within the mist, and then plumes of smoke burst upward through the sleet.
After thirty minutes of relentless bombing, the U.S. aircraft made a proud circle overhead, then sent a short message:
[Good luck.]
We'll need it.
To assess the bombing's aftermath, flare and disposable drones dove into the fog.
“Target confirmed 90% destroyed. Remaining targets unclear due to visual quality, but presumed neutralized. Maintain caution regardless,”
Hong Da-jeong ed over the comms.
She made the initial in a purely professional tone over the shared frequency, but then switched to a private channel and added in the voice I knew—teasing, familiar.
“Skelton. You can’t die yet, alright? We’ve got too much left to do, don’t we?”
I chuckled and replied.
“I’ll do my best.”
The growling rumble of engines followed. Tanks and armored vehicles rolled in.
A soldier with a long scar down his face saluted me and ed that combat preparations were complete.
I thanked him and inspected the tank’s condition and its loaded cargo.
The tank wasn’t in good shape.
It was a “zombie tank,” salvaged and forcibly restored from destroyed scrap.
Its engine rattled ominously, sounding like it could seize at any moment, but the engineers claimed it could survive one full battle.
Everything else was in decent condition.
Inside the armored vehicle, I found the most important weapon.
Shhhh—
Lying within the vehicle was a massive two-handed axe, like a barbell fused with an axe blade.
It wasn’t as heavy as a barbell, but far too unwieldy to wield single-handed—so I grasped it with both hands and tested the mechanisms.
Shakkkk—
Soldiers and Hunters nearby stared at the weapon with curiosity. When the lower metal skirt of the axe unfolded like an inverted umbrella, confusion spread across their faces.
“What the hell is that?” Ha Tae-hoon asked.
“Oh, this?”
I smiled, folding the skirt back in.
“A secret weapon.”
Yes.
A secret weapon.
Made for vengeance—ten years in the making.
It wasn’t just my own idea.
It was originally conceived by my mentor, Jang Ki-young, based on the thoughts and techniques of a nameless fallen Chinese engineer, and most importantly—on the hatred I harbored after fighting that thing.
Then the engineers arrived, wearing grease-stained work uniforms, carrying the other component I had requested.
A propulsion unit with two nozzles.
“Captain Park Gyu, this is what you asked for.”
The lead engineer, Seven, handed it to me.
Heavy. Solid.
Click!
I attached it to the base of the axe.
It wasn’t factory-made. 100% handmade. And yet, the coupling was astonishingly smooth.
I looked at Seven and the engineers. They watched me with proud, expectant eyes—another pillar holding our world up.
And true to their nature as mechanics, they didn’t wait for praise—they demanded practicality.
“How does it feel? Usable?”
Already heavy, the axe now felt significantly more burdensome—difficult to handle in real combat.
“Yeah, it’s heavy.”
But that wasn’t its purpose.
This weapon wasn’t built for general use.
It was designed to kill one specific monster.
“But it’s perfect.”
Seven turned, exchanged smiles with the other techs, then looked back at me.
“By the way—what’s its name? I mean, a rocket-powered axe? ‘Rocket Axe’?”
I firmly shook my head.
Such a cheap, lame name had no place in Park Gyu’s arsenal.
“Then what should we call it?”
While defending Seoul, I’d thought of a name.
I stroked the axe’s not-quite-sharp but heavy blade, catching the glint of filtered sunlight through the clouds as I spoke the name I’d been saving.
“Maul.”
The engineers blinked.
“Maul? Like a hammer?”
I nodded.
“Not much difference.”
Same purpose.
To crush that thing’s skull.
That was all I could think about.
I heard murmurs behind me and stepped back.
A group approached—leaders of the city.
“Sunbae.”
At the front stood Woo Min-hee.
She rarely appeared before the public.
Because of her prosthetic arm and leg, and the scars on her face from past battles, she avoided exposure.
Even when she did show herself, it was always under a wide-brimmed hat and gloves to hide the artificial hand.
But not today.
Today, in full sunlight, she stood bare—prosthetics, scars, and all.
“Sorry I can’t go with you.”
I understood. It was her way of showing sincerity.
I answered.
“Nothing to apologize for.”
“...Sunbae.”
“It’s because of you I’ve made it this far. Thank you, Min-hee.”
As she had spoken her truth to me, I spoke mine back.
Since the war began, much had happened between us, but in this city, Woo Min-hee was my strongest supporter—the reason I was still standing.
Without her, I never would’ve dreamed of facing that thing again.
I would’ve chosen to become the last man alive, Skelton, consumed by cynicism, mocking myself as I died.
Yes, I fear death.
But dying without meaning—that’s worse.
A long tragedy, or a short one. That’s the only difference.
Beeeeeeep—
The buzzer sounded.
The operation had begun.
A group of Hunters passed by us.
It was the advance unit led by Defender.
His squad was closer to a platoon than a team and was tasked with holding off the zombie horde hovering in the southeast like stormclouds.
With the horde creeping closer, both King and Park Penguin had already moved in to support. Defender was joining them.
As he passed, I gave him a thumbs-up.
We didn’t need words.
Our eyes were enough.
I turned to look behind me.
Seventeen Hunter teams. Sixty-six Hunters. Thirty-two soldiers. Six Chinese troops. One doctor. One embedded journalist.
Ninety-six people.
All watching me.
Just like with Defender, there was no need for long speeches.
The result was all that mattered.
Still, I chose to say something else.
“No matter what happens today, don’t let it weigh on you. Today, people fought for New Seoul—for humanity. We are among them.”
In silence, I climbed into the armored vehicle.
Painted boldly on the plating was a tiger’s roar and a hastily brushed inscription: “Beom” (Tiger).
It was my ride.
Inside, a familiar face waited.
“Hey.”
Na Hye-in.
She hadn’t shown herself publicly until now.
Most likely, she didn’t want Kang Han-min to see her.
I didn’t know the full story between them, but I’d seen enough in our youth to know he once ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ loved her.
And I’d also sensed she no longer loved him.
She looked a bit drained.
“You okay?”
Probably because of the sinister pulse the General-Type was emanating over the city.
Even with NP equipment, the signal couldn’t be blocked. The Regular Awakened were resisting purely through willpower.
“I’ll survive.”
She wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked down at the tablet in her hands.
“This map...”
A shadow briefly flickered across her eyes.
“It’s eerily similar to the terrain from that operation in China.”
I nodded.
The General-Type was holed up in a rotary where several roads converged.
It wasn’t coincidence—it reflected its preferences.
It liked spots where it could simultaneously control multiple roads, allowing it to shelter its horde from mass destruction like airstrikes, and then counterattack flexibly.
Even in previous battles, it had moved a few monsters like chess pieces to block exits and obliterate hundreds of Hunters.
This situation wasn’t much different.
Just fewer monsters. Fewer humans.
But the one leading the monsters was still it.
And I still led the humans.
Round two.
The plan was simple.
Because it had intelligence, it could anticipate and counter us—so we would attack from every direction.
The rotary’s center was obscured by thick fog and undetectable by drone recon. But I was sure it was still there.
The slight furrow in Na Hye-in’s brow was proof enough.
There were thousands of possible routes to the center, including alleys, but only seventeen were accessible to tanks and armored vehicles.
Mathematicians confirmed over 100 possible paths.
We chose seventeen.
There were only seventeen Hunter teams.
Sixteen of them were feints—what the Chinese called “虚招,” decoys or supporting assaults.
Only one team was the true assault force.
Mine.
More precisely, Team 1 consisted of two Hunter teams: mine, Professor, and Na Hye-in’s, Alpha One.
Her team was entirely composed of active-duty Jeju Regular Awakened—the strongest force among the seventeen.
One of the only two zombie tanks had been assigned to us.
“This is where we split?”
She pointed at the map.
“Yes. But if B-13 is still intact, I’m leaving it to you.”
“No problem. Just a mid-class.”
Before the bombing, sixty-six mid-class monsters had been deployed—each stationed at key junctions, as if guarding the road to the General-Type.
After the bombing, we hoped no more than thirty remained.
Recon suggested about that many survived.
Woooooom—
Though U.S. aircraft had left, heavy engine sounds still echoed overhead.
It was Hong Da-jeong’s high-altitude recon drone.
She flew it above 30,000 feet to avoid interference.
Even that wasn’t guaranteed safe, but it was the only way to monitor the General-Type's movements post-bombing.
So far, no signs of escape.
“If B-14’s still active after we split, can I count on you to handle it?”
“Shouldn’t be a problem.”
She was the strongest. I expected much from her.
She nodded at my directions, asking brief questions as we finalized the plan.
Then I felt her eyes on me.
She was staring.
Still beautiful—so much so that fleeting memories passed through my mind.
Some said she had an aura no one could match.
As she aged, the dreamy air about her faded, replaced by a warm, lifelike vitality.
I preferred her this way.
“Got a question?”
I asked, sensing the intensity of her gaze.
“Oh, nothing major.”
She looked around.
It was just the two of us in the vehicle.
The others waited outside or in nearby vehicles for our briefing to finish.
She exhaled and looked back at me.
“What’s your relationship with Min-hee?”
“Woo Min-hee?”
“Yeah.”
“Why ask that now?”
“People say you’re close. That you drink together at night, just the two of you...”
“We did.”
I nodded.
“But that’s all.”
“Really?”
“Is that important right now?”
I couldn’t understand.
No matter how close they’d been, why bring up personal matters at such a crucial moment?
All I could do was repeat what my mentor Jang Ki-young once told me:
“Get your head straight.”
It worked.
Na Hye-in blinked, then gave a hollow laugh and composed herself.
“Yeah. Park Gyu. Now’s the time to focus.”
She stood up, like she’d just let something go.
“Well then, I’ll see you out there.”
I nodded.
She opened the door.
At the threshold, she looked back and said,
“Don’t die.”
“That kind of request doesn’t suit us, Alpha One.”
She stepped out of the armored vehicle.
“Just had to say it.”
As she left, my team began boarding.
Kim Daram. Ha Tae-hoon. Bang Jae-hyuk.
No Awakened—on purpose.
That suited my plan.
Bang Jae-hyuk’s leg was injured, but with Kim Daram beside him, they formed a solid two-man heavy unit. His condition wouldn’t be a problem.
I did wish we had one more Assault of my caliber—but there weren’t many left who could go toe-to-toe with a monster in close quarters.
Ha Tae-hoon came in right on time.
Then something unexpected happened.
Not Bang Jae-hyuk.
Someone else.
“?”
A strange yet familiar man boarded.
Short hair. Pale face. High nose bridge.
Without a word, he took Bang Jae-hyuk’s seat, sliding an old M16 rifle between his knees.
Click!
I stared at him.
From the door, Bang Jae-hyuk’s voice called out.
“Sorry, Park sunbae. But I think someone better suited showed up. I’m giving up my spot.”
I locked eyes with the man.
Gong Gyeong-min.
My closest supporter. My old comrade.
He spread his fingers.
“Just this once.”
“...Gong Gyeong-min.”
“No need to sync up, right?”
I nodded.
He was an excellent Assault.
In certain conditions, he was every bit as good as me.
I hoped this would be one of those times.
“Team Hermit entering operation zone.”
“Team Potatochip in position.”
“Team Gorgeous awaiting orders.”
...
...
All units had taken their positions throughout the city.
It was time.
But we never thought the enemy would make it easy.
And of course—
Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee—!
“Kill the radio! Now!”
That grotesque shriek tore through the city.
A cursed Screamer’s roar—designed to destroy all communication.
I checked my radio and comm unit.
Dead.
“....”
So there was another one.
Was this part of the General-Type’s plan?
Everyone looked at me with worried eyes.
Gong Gyeong-min asked,
“What now?”
I stared at him and answered.
“Advance.”
There’s no turning back.
.
!
Chapter 169.2: The Question (2)
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