Hiding a House in the Apocalypse-Chapter 103.4: Struggle (4)

Noise traps serve two purposes.

The first is obvious—to alert me to an intruder’s presence.

But I focus on the second purpose.

The sound startles the intruder, instilling fear and hesitation.

Some will abandon stealth and act aggressively upon realizing they’ve been discovered. Others will freeze in place, staying utterly still, trying to assess my movements.

Judging by the lack of further movement, the unknown enemy beyond the fog had chosen the latter approach.

Lying flat on the rooftop, I trained my sights in the direction of the noise, searching for even the faintest silhouette.

Nightfall had begun.

Stars, countless and bright, pierced through the thinning veil of dusk, while strong winds carried across the mountain ridges, blowing down toward my outpost.

The wind did help clear some of the suffocating fog, but it was nowhere near enough. As the darkness deepened, visibility remained poor.

Relying solely on sight would be foolish.

Instead, I had to engage my other senses.

Hearing was the most immediate.

Touch also had its use—if the enemy came close enough, I could feel faint vibrations in the ground.

But above all else, the most important thing was thinking ahead.

Where would the enemy come from?

What angle would they attack from?

If I mapped out scenarios in advance, I could react faster when things went south.

I couldn’t make my reflexes physically faster, but I could reduce the time it took to decide.

There were three possibilities.

A Mutation.

A person.

Or a monster.

I ran through the options in my head while keeping my sights locked on the fog.

“...It’s not a monster.”

Monsters existed on the borderline between living beings and machines.

They didn’t think like humans or animals.

They moved according to pre-programmed instincts, an internal algorithm.

If this had been a monster, it wouldn’t have stopped just because of a sudden noise.

That meant there were no restrictions on firearm use.

I flipped the fire selector from single-shot to burst—no, fully automatic.

Burst fire was efficient against humans.

But against Mutations, I needed sustained firepower.

Shhhk—

I pulled out my axe as a precaution, using it to support my rifle barrel.

I controlled my breathing, lowering it to near silence, focusing every fiber of my being on my surroundings.

Nothing.

No footsteps.

No breathing.

Only the endless, swirling fog, shifting and reforming with the wind, creating a dreamlike battlefield.

“...This fight will be decided in an instant.”

I was prepared to hold this position all night.

The sun was hours away from rising, and I had no way of knowing when—or if—the fog would clear.

Just as I was settling in for a long wait—

Step—

A footstep.

No doubt about it.

Something human-sized had stepped onto solid ground.

The distance—thirty meters, at most.

Rather than fire immediately, I honed in on the sound.

Shhhk—

Wind?

No—

“?!”

I threw myself sideways.

Shhhk—

Something cold and sharp sliced through the air where I had been, embedding itself with a crash into a solar panel.

Amidst the shattering fragments, I caught sight of the weapon that had pierced through the panel.

“...A spear.”

Crude, blackened, slightly warped—but unmistakably a spear.

Its shape, its deadly tip, the way it rebounded off the surface—it carried the same design principles as the ancient spears of early humans.

A person.

This was a person.

The moment I confirmed that, my ears picked up a second attack.

Shhhk—

The same wind sound.

This time—

Clang!

Right at my torso.

The moment I spotted the spear emerging from the darkness, I deflected it with my axe.

Step—

Footsteps.

Twenty meters away.

I wasn’t going to let them get closer.

I fired suppressive shots into the darkness.

Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

The moment I fired, I jumped off the rooftop and sprinted back into my outpost.

I immediately activated emergency power, turning on every floodlight and spotlight around the perimeter.

Thunk!

With a heavy, mechanical whir, the once-dormant floodlights came to life, cutting through the darkness.

In that blinding burst of illumination, I saw them—silhouettes of figures retreating into the fog.

I was right.

The ones attacking this outpost, the ones responsible for all the disappearances—

They were humans.

More specifically, they were low-level Awakened.

I wasted no time reporting my findings.

“Yes. As I just stated, I was attacked. The attackers were human. I have evidence. They were using crude, blackened throwing spears. They moved through the fog, using it for cover, and their accuracy was exceptional.”

If it had been anyone else but me, they would be dead.

But I didn’t say that part.

I was a reasonable man.

In Red Archive board terms, I wasn’t about to flex my luck.

Later That Night

SKELTON: N-newbie here...>< (Shy cute girl emoji) (8)

A historic moment.

My true debut post on the Red Archive board.

It was just a normal post, but after barely escaping death, these replies felt like a reward.

DEPA: (Fox-eared girl waving emoji)

Donggeurami: Newbie hihi

sleeping: (Cute girl greeting emoji)

Butkojang: Aren’t you the weird guy from earlier? Eh, whatever. Newbies are always welcome~

O.R.O.N.A: You smell lewd...

13Grade: Damn brat... Discipline!

GumStuckMoss: (Cute girl sleeping emoji)

New novel chapt𝒆rs are published on ƒгeewebnovёl.com.

UnicornCon: Hihi

Unlike my first attempt—this time, the board welcomed me.

It felt like coming in from the cold to a warm, home-cooked stew made by someone you liked.

Sip—

I popped a caffeine capsule into my mouth, washing it down with water.

I’d probably have to stay up all night.

There was no telling when those unknown enemies would attack again.

But one thing was certain—

That spear.

Whoever threw it was no amateur.

There was something about the way they attacked—the precision, the confidence.

The absolute belief that their spear would not miss.

The conviction that there was no one beyond their reach.

It was an artistic attack.

If I hadn’t set up those alarm traps, I wouldn’t have noticed them until it was too late.

I would have been ambushed on unfavorable terrain, unprepared.

My chances of survival would have plummeted.

I would have become just another missing person.

As I was about to take a short break before returning to the rooftop—

A faint notification blinked on my screen.

A new message.

Someone had initiated a chat.

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

I opened it.

UnicornCon: Hey~

A user I didn’t recognize had sent a message.

But that username...

It looked familiar.

Half in doubt, I replied.

SKELTON: (SKELTON) Hihi~

UnicornCon: It’s me, Unicorn!

SKELTON: You changed your name?

UnicornCon: Yeah... It wasn’t exactly something to be proud of.

SKELTON: I just got attacked.

UnicornCon: I heard. That’s why I messaged you.

SKELTON: Yeah?

UnicornCon: I have clearance to see the reports as they come in.

SKELTON: I see.

UnicornCon: You’re sure it was a person?

SKELTON: Experienced. Skilled killer. Used throwing spears. Might have other weapons too, but they only threw two spears at me tonight.

UnicornCon: You’re not hurt, right? The report didn’t mention injuries.

SKELTON: No injuries. But the attacker was an Awakened—probably a low-level one. They had some kind of enhanced vision or perception ability in the dark. That’s how they targeted me so precisely.

UnicornCon: That’s... terrifying...

SKELTON: They were confident in their spears today, but who knows? They might have guns too.

This was not a normal situation.

No matter how much my outpost’s windows were reinforced with bulletproof glass, could they really withstand a sustained attack?

If I lost access to the second-floor command post, I would have no way to communicate with the outside world.

The moment they shattered that glass, I’d be completely cut off, forced to make my last stand on the first floor.

SKELTON: Still no word from anyone else?

UnicornCon: Yeah... It’s taking longer than expected... Sorry.

UnicornCon: I’m really sorry. I wish I could help more.

SKELTON: Nothing to be sorry about. I chose to come here.

Relying on others too much wasn’t a good survival strategy.

False hope was more dangerous than having no hope at all.

If Unicorn wasn’t going to step out of her safe zone, I just had to endure.

Thankfully, there were no further attacks that night.

The Morning After

At dawn, I scouted the area.

As expected, there were signs that my can-and-wire alarm system had been triggered.

There were footprints as well.

Beyond the alarm trap, the tracks had been wiped away—but the ones left behind gave me a rough estimate of their numbers.

Four.

Two of them were either women or small teenage boys.

There were two different shoe prints, both 270mm, and two smaller ones—225mm and 230mm.

Only one person had actually thrown a spear, but they had brought three others with them.

That meant they weren’t just here to kill me.

They were here to loot the entire outpost—including my corpse.

The footprints approached within 20 meters of my position.

And yet, none of them had triggered any of my traps.

It didn’t seem like they had spotted and avoided them.

It was just... dumb luck.

They had accidentally stepped only on the safe areas.

That needed to change.

I’d have to fortify the surroundings—either by building ridges to guide movement or by adding more obstacles.

And of course, I sent my report to command.

“I need reinforcements. I won’t last long alone. I don’t even know if I’ll survive another night.”

But I already knew what the ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) answer would be.

“We apologize. I don’t have any authority—I just relay orders. I assure you, we are taking this situation very seriously and are doing everything we can. Please hold out just a little longer!”

They were stalling.

I could feel the unseen forces working against me in Jeju.

Gong Gyeong-min was still the prime suspect, but even if we had fallen out, I didn’t believe he would do something this cruel.

Maybe there were other jealous, low-level Awakened who wanted me to rot here and die.

It wouldn’t be surprising.

“....”

I moved my monitor and keyboard, setting them on the floor.

I laid down a mat beneath them and adjusted everything so I could use my computer while lying down.

It was uncomfortable, but it was a survival tactic—one based on a conversation I once had with my comrades about how to deal with low-level Awakened.

Back then, we had debated the best way to handle being under siege by enemy Awakened forces.

"Even low-level Awakened aren’t invincible," one of my squadmates had said. "Their sensory abilities can only pinpoint a general location, not an exact outline. They’re not infrared sensors. And even if they have X-ray vision, it only works within five meters. The real problem is their perception abilities."

He had grinned.

"So if I ever end up in a situation like that, here’s what I’d do—never separate resting and guarding areas. Sleep and stand watch in the same place, so the enemy never knows when you’re actually vulnerable. If you go to a designated sleeping spot, you’re basically putting up a neon sign that says, ‘Kill me here.’"

That brilliant bastard was none other than Gong Gyeong-min.

We weren’t on speaking terms anymore, but I wouldn’t discard his wisdom.

Two Weeks Later

I had completely adapted to my new life in the outpost’s command post.

I ate, worked, patrolled, and even relaxed—all from inside the watchtower.

There had been no further attacks.

And as I had expected, Jeju’s government never sent reinforcements.

They had left me to fend for myself.

So I turned to my one source of mental refuge.

Click.

SKELTON: (Cute girl headbutting playfully emoji)

Click.

SKELTON: (Cute girl surprised emoji)

Click.

SKELTON: (Cute girl saying good night emoji)

“....”

I changed my entire online approach.

Before, I had been the type to post long-winded thoughts, asserting my identity and proving myself.

Now, I took a different path.

I simply reacted to every post with the perfect moe emoji.

I didn’t draw attention to myself—but in doing so, I made myself impossible to ignore.

If this were a martial arts novel, it would be the philosophy of softness overcoming hardness.

And the results were immediate.

ArmpitLover: Is Skelton living on the board or what?

B4MEdecede: Skelton’s kinda cute lol

UnitedCondom: Where the fuck did this weeb gremlin even come from?

NonSurgicalT-Gene: I wanna rail Skelton rough.

ㅇㅇ: Skelton wasn’t like this before, right? What happened to that cringey intro post?

TTYarisuDanTT: Skelton is so cute.

RealPimp: Are you mute? Why do you only post emojis?

Lmao: Skelton’s BertelgiaCon emoji is adorable.

The same kids who had ignored me at first—

Now they were mentioning me.

Now they were watching me.