Hiding a House in the Apocalypse-Chapter 170.7: Response (7)

Hiding a House in the Apocalypse-Chapter 170.7: Response (7)

Kim Hyun-soo died on December 3rd.
I don’t know who he is.
A tall boy was standing next to me.
He had dark skin, distinct features, and above all, a red dot marked on his forehead. He had the appearance of what we refer to as an Indian.
I assumed we wouldn’t be able to communicate.
He started talking to me about something, but surprisingly, I understood what he was saying.
A wide-open sea stretched out in front of us.
We were standing on a beach covered in fine, nearly white sand, staring together at a sea so clear it resembled that same sand.
I had thought there would be something like palm trees, and then, palm trees appeared.
They looked exactly as I imagined—tall trunks and green, fan-shaped leaves—but suddenly, I couldn’t recall what the leaves looked like. I stared closely at the leafy part.
“······?”
I couldn’t see it.
No matter how hard I tried to focus or squinted my eyes, the blurred parts remained blurred, unchanged.
Unfortunately, approaching the palm trees was impossible.
Even though I had made up my mind to go toward them, my body simply stood still with the nameless boy, gazing at the beautiful, fleeting sea.
The moment I realized I couldn’t move my body at will, I knew I was not in reality, but in some dream-like unreality.
I consciously tried wiggling the toes on my left foot.
It’s a method I often use when I experience sleep paralysis, and it’s fairly effective.
I focused strength into my left toe, but nothing changed.
The boy turned his head.
I’ve never interacted with an Indian before.
But somehow, we knew each other.
The boy’s name was too long, and too difficult to pronounce with my outdated accent, so I decided to call him Singh.
He said the scenery we were looking at was where he used to live.
When I remarked that it looked like a resort, he shyly smiled and said it was that kind of place.
Singh said it had been a long time since he met someone.
It seemed he had been in this space for a very long time.
Suddenly, I thought of my bunker.
I had been in there alone for quite a long time.
No, ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) I had spent most of my post-war life inside that dark bunker.
Singh asked me if I wasn’t lonely.
For a moment, I wondered how he knew what I was thinking and asked that question, but I quickly dismissed the thought and told him about my life in the bunker, in a slightly excited tone.
"Compared to before the war, I mean... I can’t exactly say it’s good. What an individual prepares can’t match what a country provides, right? You’re asking if I’m lonely because there are no people? Of course I’m lonely. I’m a man too, so yeah, I often wish there were a woman by my side. But I have the internet, right? You know, people are funny. As long as they’re able to communicate with someone—even if it’s not face to face—they don’t really feel alone.”
The boy looked like he didn’t understand what I was saying.
To him, communication meant lots of people, dazzling sunlight, and eyes like his meeting one another.
I figured it was a cultural difference and continued.
"And when you go online, you can see it, you know? That I’m living a bit better than some of my friends? Sure, when I see guys like that Foxgame dude with even better bunkers than mine, I get mad without even realizing it."
At that point, I thought of my junior, Kim Daram, and chuckled.
I used to think I was different from that guy, but maybe I had the same petty nature after all.
But the smile faded as soon as I thought of the real-life junior named Kim Daram.
I’d been vaguely sensing it for a while.
Something about the current situation was twisted compared to the reality I knew.
I asked the boy.
Where are we?
The boy stared at me in silence.
Only then did I notice.
A faint glow lingered in the boy’s eyes.
“Awakened?”
The moment I formed that concept, the scenery abruptly changed.
In place of the heavenly beach, a view of an unfamiliar city unfolded before us.
The sky was burning, the city destroyed, countless people were screaming and fleeing.
Riots, zombies, soldiers, police, cows and pigs, women and the bodies of dead women—all of it flashed chaotically before vanishing, but some things remained unchanged.
There was a grayish-white presence standing in front of us, as if it belonged there naturally. That’s right.
A monster.
I couldn’t tell what type or species it was.
It merely had a gray, alien texture. Like the palm tree leaves earlier, its form was impossible to distinguish.
In that sense, it was a literal symbol of a monster.
The moment I recognized that monster, the flame of hatred that had been burning in my chest flared up.
I glared at the boy.
I asked.
Who are you?
The boy looked at the monster with sorrowful eyes.
Is the boy the monster?
Maybe.
But not exactly.
One thing’s for certain—the boy, Singh, fought the monster with his life on the line.
He never received a proper reward, never got proper recognition, but he fought, and fought again.
Until he was broken.
The fight must have ended suddenly.
Without even realizing it himself, the scenery and symbols would have changed abruptly and ended, just like now.
And now, that boy stood before me.
“Yeah.”
I had the right to ask.
My presence in this space was not due to someone else’s will or an unknown entity’s intervention.
I had opened the door myself and entered.
After I tore apart that bastard—the one called the General-type, the enemy of humanity—with my own hands.
That qualification was secured by the two axes now in my hands.
I had no intention of swinging them at the boy.
He had nothing to do with the monster.
The two were woven together by some unknown force like a net, but that alone doesn’t make the boy a monster.
But I knew he knew something.
So I asked.
The answer he knew, the answer he understood, the one I wanted to know.
The boy looked at the axes.
An eternal moment passed.
After a while, the boy lowered his head and let out a sigh.
In that instant, the boy’s life flashed through my consciousness like a panorama.
“······.”
An untouchable caste, a miserable life described with damp darkness, monsters and awakening, a meeting with a girl, a magical night spent on the pure white beach we had seen together, the red dot she placed on his forehead, the same red dot marked on the girl’s forehead after she was gang-raped and killed, coercive soldiers and family, endless battles without promise, and a sudden end.
He lived a wretched life, with only a brief taste of sweetness that, if anything, only made the tragedy crueler—a fleeting and short life.
Defining a human life in one word is difficult, but he had the right to hate humanity.
He had the right to accept the end of this world—no, the human world—without resistance.
I had no confidence in persuading him.
And nothing to say.
But the axes in my hands did not disappear.
"Is that so?"
That’s what matters.
That is his life.
I have my life.
There are things I want to protect, and people I want to protect.
That’s what life is.
No matter how broken or crumpled it becomes, life somehow strives to preserve that spark, to pass it down from one generation to the next.
“······.”
In my case, the flame of hatred burning inside me is probably what gives meaning to life.
I will kill those bastards.
Not once have I forgotten that thought.
In front of that, no amount of tragic backstory, no just cause, no perfect logic means anything.
It’s simple.
Just as the monsters move with one purpose—to spread erosion—I move with a singular will to kill them.
An enemy always comes to resemble their enemy.
“Please.”
I asked, watching the boy, who had turned into a monster before I realized it.
The boy stared blankly with those glossy eyes, then slowly turned around.
Behind his large body, a dimensional rift shimmered now and then like a mirror on a lake.
The boy stopped.
Leaving the motionless boy behind, I walked into the rift on my own two feet.
Still holding the two axes.
It was December 3rd.
The day the boy disappeared from this world.
A vaguely familiar face flashed by.
A man stood inside the rift.
In that still space, he slowly looked past the horizon where infinite monsters were forming.
I couldn’t see his face, but I could read his thoughts.
Adam and Eve.
A shard of thought I couldn’t understand flashed through my mind.
*
“Sunbae!”
“Park Gyu!”
Tatata-tatang!
At first, it was pain. Then loud voices and shaking jolted me from my hazy consciousness.
Beyond my blurry vision, I saw someone injecting something into my arm.
It was Ha Tae-hoon.
Just as I opened my mouth to say something—
“Guh!”
A mouthful of red blood surged back up from my throat.
“Park Gyu!”
Gong Gyeong-min shouted.
Only then did I realize I was resting my head on Kim Daram’s lap.
She might be a bittic ajumma on the internet, but to me, she’s still my cute junior.
I tried to say something as I looked up at her.
But no words came out.
“Sunbae. Hold on.”
A pair of hands that had surely raised a child—tough but almost magical—wiped away the vomit around my mouth and cleaned it.
“Sunbae. Are you okay? Can you speak? If you understand me, nod your head.”
I nodded.
I tried to sit up.
“Ghhk...”
Normally I don’t groan, but this time was an exception.
My whole body, quite literally, was shattered.
But there was one thing to check first.
“Th-the General...”
I forced the words out.
“I defeated the General-type.”
Kim Daram gave a thumbs-up.
“Sunbae! You’re the one who beat that monster!”
I laughed without meaning to.
My damaged lungs retaliated right away, but what could I do?
It felt good—it simply felt good.
I tried to move my hands, but they wouldn’t respond.
The gloves on both hands had burned and fused into the flesh.
A price to pay for using a cursed weapon.
But there was no need to say it out loud.
Tatata-tang!
Amid Ha Tae-hoon’s gunfire, Gong Gyeong-min gave the situation .
“The General-type was defeated by Professor! But a massive monster horde from the Paju Rift is already flooding toward the city. Since the General-type disappeared, many have scattered, confused, but there are still too many heading toward the city. And before our battle began, fifteen combat-type monsters already crossed the bridge and entered New Seoul. We’ve got troops, but the numbers are overwhelming. Most are Executioner-types.”
As expected of my comrade.
He told me exactly what I wanted to know.
The situation’s bad.
We’ve defeated the strongest enemy, and their command structure has collapsed, but the remaining bastards are still causing trouble.
Unfortunately, humanity is now so weakened that we can barely handle even the remnants left behind by a fallen leader.
“······.”
The moment I killed that thing, in a way, my life’s purpose was fulfilled.
Even if it ended here, it would be a death I could face with a smile.
But in that place, I learned something new.
Something important.
The information from the Rift poured into my head in such an overwhelming volume that it’s hard to express it in a single phrase, but it’s incredibly important.
It might even hold the key to saving humanity.
Which means—I must live.
But the situation is grim.
From the east, a massive monster wave is coming, and the city is under siege.
“······.”
Is this the end?
Unless Kang Han-min helps us, which is unlikely, we’re on our own.
Footsteps approached.
The Chinese soldiers.
For a moment I doubted their intentions, but I owe them an apology.
They came with good will.
“Professor!”
Jang Soo-young approached holding a radio.
Probably a spare unit.
But why bring a radio right now?
She let me hear the sound from it.
“?”
I let out a laugh before I could stop myself.
Because—
“Meeem! Meeem! Meeem! Meeem! Meeem! Meeem!”
Cicada cries were coming through the radio.
The internet quickly filled in the context.
“I know I sound crazy, but listen, Park Gyu. That mega horde of tens of thousands of zombies in the southeast is now heading north—attacking the monster wave that was headed south...”
Gong Gyeong-min continued, staring at his phone in disbelief.
“And leading them is an Over Level-10 Awakened who’s never been seen before.”
Of course—it’s that bastard.
IAmJesus.
A broken friend, but he must’ve learned a lot while bickering with King.
“And get this—standing next to that unidentified Awakened is Chairman Je Pung-ho. You know Chairman Je Pung-ho, right...?”
Damn you, Gong Gyeong-min.
So much for being serious on Viva! Apocalypse!
If my mouth worked, I’d have roasted him properly.
But IAmJesus wasn’t the only miracle.
Gong Gyeong-min showed me a photo he quickly snapped.
Sure enough.
Wearing a Silla Dynasty crown—don’t ask where he got it—and some unidentifiable, flashy, over-the-top robes, IAmJesus stood at the front lines commanding monsters. Next to him, waving a faded church banner like a flag, stood Je Pung-ho, watching over the wave of zombies crashing toward the monsters.
“Meeem! Meeem! Meeeemem! Sex! Meeem!”
IAmJesus’s now noticeably deeper howl was still coming from the radio.
That front is taken care of now.
What’s left is our city—New Seoul.
According to Gong Gyeong-min, multiple Executioner-types are swarming in.
They’re tough, they attack first, and they detect humans directly to carry out devastating attacks. Traditional German tactics won’t work on them.
They’re the natural enemies of human groups with weak firepower.
But I’m not worried.
Everyone’s forgotten, but that city has a guardian deity.
A bit eccentric and hard to please—but still beautiful and lovable. My junior.
As expected.
Boom!
A graceful, subtle shockwave rippled from the city.
“What was that?”
Kim Daram looked toward the city with anxious eyes.
No need to check.
It’s Woo Min-hee.
“······.”
With support from Gong Gyeong-min and Kim Daram, I stood up.
The Chinese soldiers offered me painkillers, but I refused.
Painkillers make you drowsy.
Sleep was always close, but I have no intention of falling asleep yet.
How long has it been since humans won against monsters?
More importantly, I got my answer.
Though still a tangled mess in my mind, I now hold the key that could end this horrific catastrophe.
So I’ll savor this a little longer.
Even if the pain eats me alive.
Chzzzzk—
The radio frequency changed.
Someone was trying to contact us.
Only then did I notice the sound of a helicopter I’d completely forgotten about.
I sighed.
Still there, huh?
The transmission connected.
“Aniki!”
Everyone looked puzzled at the sudden roar, but I alone recognized the voice.
“······.”
It was Kang Han-min.
Adam and Eve.
That eerie thought from the dream flashed once more through my mind.

Chapter 170.7: Response (7)