Hiding a House in the Apocalypse-Chapter 112.1: Faith (1)

The cold tomb wasn’t a place filled with treasures like a Pharaoh’s tomb.

It was a shabby cryogenic chamber, reeking of the smell of death, with only cheap mechanical equipment, LED lights, and rudimentary power generators—things that scavengers might find useful.

But there was a treasure in that tomb.

Satellite equipment.

There were a total of eight pieces of satellite equipment scattered haphazardly and disconnected, but I took the four that were in the best condition.

It was the first time the nagging young couple became useful.

Dies_Irae didn’t show any particular reaction.

He simply asked how I had found this place, and I mentioned John Nae-non’s name.

Then he asked,

“Who’s that?”

It seemed that Dies_Irae had forgotten John Nae-non’s name.

After I reminded him, he chuckled and nodded.

“Oh, that guy. Right, right. He was the one who created Failnet, wasn’t he?”

Apart from that, Dies_Irae was considerate of me.

Since the motorcycle’s small cargo compartment wouldn’t fit everything, he had someone secure the load with chains and ropes. As night fell, he even suggested we stay overnight before heading out.

He still seemed intent on adding me to his ranks.

The journey wasn’t without obstacles, but no major accidents occurred.

The black mutation we had seen in the morning persistently targeted me, but we only exchanged some subtle standoffish moves.

Its intelligence and cunning reminded me of Gold, the mutated dog I had encountered before.

Once I managed to distance myself from it in a safe stretch, there were no more threats.

I contacted Ha Tae-hoon using the comms device to open the door.

He was waiting for me at the entrance to my bunker.

But he wasn’t alone.

Cheon Young-jae was also outside.

Something must have happened.

“The Legion faction was attacked,” Cheon Young-jae said, relaying the information from his contact over the radio.

While I was digging up the cold crypt that John Nae-non had been curious about, a large-scale raid by zealots had taken place in Wonju.

Communication was lost halfway through, so the details weren’t clear, but the reports said the attack was so massive that it looked like the entire city was burning.

There was one unresolved issue.

My first online friend, left behind in Wonju.

The Defender siblings.

When I entered my bunker and logged into the forum, I expected to hear from Defender.

Two new messages had arrived in my inbox.

They were probably from Defender.

My heart raced as I opened them.

VIVA_BOT014: Skeleton~ I’ve cleared up the mini armband permissions. Please contact me when you log in, preferably during the daytime over here.

COOKIEMONSTER18: (One serving of facts) Skeleton. How are you? It’s Suе!

These were messages from people I missed.

But there was no message from Defender.

*

Static—

Radio.

Before the invention of the internet, it was the most common way to communicate over long distances.

I didn’t usually use the radio, except for the K-Walkie-Talkie, but Cheon Young-jae and Ha Tae-hoon preferred using it.

They were still trying to make contact.

Static—

It wasn’t the same as satellite internet.

The signal wasn’t strong.

Even when the frequency was properly tuned, interference from solar magnetic fields, the atmosphere, and weather conditions made it difficult to get a clear signal, requiring persistent effort.

“There seems to be some interference.”

Cheon Young-jae and Ha Tae-hoon exchanged glances, deducing the situation.

Ha Tae-hoon spoke as he looked at me.

“It’s like they’ve set up a wall of interference.”

“Must be the Legion faction’s doing?”

“Probably.”

Since the radio wasn’t yielding anything, I decided to look for information in my own way.

But I couldn’t hear anything about Wonju.

It had always been that way.

Most of the users on our forum lived near Seoul or in the metropolitan area, and there were almost no users in areas controlled by the Legion faction.

Well, there were a few before the war.

But they died off as the war went on.

Still, new users had started emerging from Legion-controlled areas, and I secretly hoped for information from them.

The situation in Wonju became clear around noon.

“Disguised as refugees, the Awakened led a deep incursion into the city, attacking both inside and outside. There were so many bodies that even tanks and vehicles had to run over them.”

According to Cheon Young-jae’s contact, Wonju had been devastated to the point that the city’s functions had collapsed.

“...This sounds like the chaos we saw in China.”

After the transmission ended, Cheon Young-jae looked at us with a fatigued expression.

“There must have been some people trained in China. After all, that’s the kind of faction they are.”

Ha Tae-hoon’s words made sense, but I could see beyond that.

“Wonju was destroyed, huh...”

It wasn’t just that a city had been wiped out and many people had died.

The real problem was deeper and more fundamental: Wonju had been overrun by zealots.

“Maybe the Legion faction will disband,” I murmured.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

After General Kim Byung-cheol’s ambitious plan to reclaim Seoul failed, the Legion faction lost its leadership and began to fragment.

General Kim Byung-cheol was still alive, but there were plenty of generals who were doubtful about him.

It wasn’t just the leadership that was shaky. With such an incident occurring, it could lead to Kim Byung-cheol’s downfall and the eventual disbandment of the Legion faction, with multiple factions breaking off.

“...This is bad,” Ha Tae-hoon muttered.

Cheon Young-jae agreed.

“I think we should bring in more people.”

He proposed a more {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} active approach.

“Who are you bringing in?” I asked Cheon Young-jae.

“Baek Seung-hyun, our senior.”

From the 15th batch, wasn’t it?

The one who got injured?

“His leg might be hurt, but he’s still a good sharpshooter.”

“Alright. If we get the chance, bring him along.”

Time was pressing.

The collapse of the Legion faction meant the storm that had once ravaged the Academy’s hunters could return at any time.

And if the Legion faction disbanded, things would become even more troublesome.

It meant the miscellaneous warlords who had been pretending to be part of the military would now show their true colors.

“Have you been in contact with Hong Jung-ho?” I asked Cheon Young-jae about Defender.

“No. I’ve been trying, but no luck.”

“...”

“He’s a tough one, so he wouldn’t go down easily. If he’s alive, he’ll contact us.”

I hoped that was the case.

But the situation wasn’t that simple.

Defender was a target that the zealots had specifically singled out for execution.

That meant his chances of survival were slim.

I acknowledged that Defender’s combat prowess was formidable, but when it came to monsters, he was just average.

A level 5 or higher Awakened, who was almost indistinguishable from a monster, wasn’t an ideal match for Defender.

And Defender had the burden of his younger sister.

In an environment where he could use drones, he was top-tier, but as an individual combatant, he wasn’t the most reliable.

“...”

It was frustrating, but there was nothing to do but wait.

Heading into Wonju, a battlefield in such uncertainty, was far too risky.

“How about we take a break? You haven’t slept all night.”

I wasn’t particularly tired.

I had taken caffeine capsules, and since I was on high alert, I wasn’t even close to feeling sleepy.

But I knew it was better to rest while I could.

Taking Ha Tae-hoon’s advice, I entered the bunker.

I turned on the generator, used the air conditioner, and took a warm shower.

Before resting, I logged into the forum.

Apart from the new armband permissions, I needed to reply to Suе.

It was nice to hear from her again after so long, but when I saw her message, a chill ran down my spine.

She had clearly learned something strange.

And, as expected:

COOKIEMONSTER18: Reply.

She had learned something strange!

Where could she have picked this up?

Wasn’t she in the U.S. military camp?

As I pondered what to respond, suddenly, the K-Walkie-Talkie beeped.

Beep-beep-beep—

A familiar sound.

A call by personal identification number.

I checked the sender.

Personal ID: RED_MASK

It was Woo Min-hee.

This was the first contact since she went to Jeju.

Though her importance had lessened, she was still a leader of a powerful faction I knew.

I cleared my throat and responded to the communication.

“It’s been a while.”

As soon as I greeted her, a light, windy laugh came through the receiver.

“Senpai!”

It was Woo Min-hee.

Among the people I know, only she has such a captivating voice.

"How have you been?"

Come to think of it, is it just me these days?

Suddenly, several people have been trying to contact me, and not just any time, but at the most nerve-wracking moments.

People’s behavior can be unpredictable, but it’s better to take the good with the bad.

I cleared my mind and answered sincerely.

“Just managing.”

“I heard you returned to where you were originally, in Jeju?”

“You know well.”

“I got a message from the senior.”

“Oh, really?”

“He said if you need help, don’t hesitate to ask. So...”

“Hmm. What kind of help do you think you're offering?”

I don’t need any people.

Of course, Woo Min-hee is included in that.

Her group of Awakened individuals is slightly different from ours.

While Cheon Young-jae is an unusual guy, us old-school hunters and the Awakened don’t mix.

No matter if they’re low-level or high-level.

“I heard something interesting happened in Wonju. Did you hear? It seems like it hasn’t hit the forum yet.”

“Why don’t you post it? You’re good at that kind of thing.”

“I was actually getting a bit bored. I was thinking of enjoying the forum life again.”

“Really?”

“Oh, and...”

Woo Min-hee’s voice shifted.

Now, this must be the real information.

“The lighthouse went out.”

As expected, this was the main issue.

“What happened to the people at the lighthouse?”

“We don’t know. All we know is that the communication with the lighthouse cut off a week ago, and there was a large-scale eruption.”

“That means...”

“Yeah. With the lighthouse down, they’ll push southward.”

Disasters do come in pairs, after all.

Not only is the Legion faction on the brink of collapse, but now a large group of monsters is coming too.

But this group of monsters will be different from before.

We saw a new breed in Jeju.

All cracks release monsters created in the same world, and as such, they share the same traits.

It’s possible that the same new breed could appear on the Korean Peninsula.

Monsters that target humans themselves, proven to be like caterpillars, murderous beasts that aim to kill.

No, it’s more appropriate to call them extinction monsters.

“Well, it probably won’t reach your area yet. There’s still a long way to go before it’s fully affected. If we’re unlucky, maybe a giant species will make its way there?”

“...Thanks.”

“It’s nothing, between us.”

I heard Woo Min-hee chuckling.

“Anyway, stay in touch. We’re neighbors again.”

“Yeah. Sure.”

The communication cut off.

It wasn’t a bad conversation.

I decided to put off replying to Sue for now and turned back to my companions.

“What? A large-scale eruption?!”

“The lighthouse, that誘導 facility, has stopped functioning? Does that mean the monsters are pushing toward Seoul again?”

The reactions from my companions were just as I expected.

Cheon Young-jae, in particular, had a quick response.

“Senior, we need to bring him in fast. He’s definitely someone we can trust.”

He spoke as he looked at me.

“Go ahead. Anything else we need, we can prepare later. I agree that we need a combatant.”

Actually, I want two more people.

I’ve felt this way for a while.

Expanding our combat power quantitatively is important, but we also need to have at least a night watch in place.

We have machines, but blindly relying on them will only lead to a death where you are unable to do anything when the machine fails.

I firmly believe there are things only humans can do.

The more people we have, the less the burden of the night watch.

While Cheon Young-jae was making plans to bring Baek Seung-hyun, who was outside of Seoul, I took a short rest.

I slept for exactly 4 hours and woke up.

A little fatigue remained, but most of it had faded.

The sun was high in the sky.

Before resuming activities, I logged into the forum.

Now was the time to reply to Sue’s message.

“Hm?” frёeωebɳovel.com

The reaction on the forum wasn’t normal.

Soon, I discovered the cause.

ONE_FAITH: Execution.jpg

It was a collection of several low-quality photos.

There were no captions or texts, but the photos were cut into short frames like a traditional Eastern picture, giving the effect of movement when scrolled quickly, as if the people in the pictures were actually moving.

In the next frames, four people were tied up, blindfolded.

A creepy figure in a white hood was holding a large axe.

He raised the axe and took turns striking the people.

At the end of the photos, ONE_FAITH left a comment.

ONE_FAITH: We’ve captured and executed the four murderers.

ONE_FAITH: Our pursuit does not end.

ONE_FAITH: Our faith remains unwavering.

“...”

I scrolled back up and looked at the photos again.

I don’t have a hobby of carefully observing corpses.

And I definitely don’t enjoy looking at the grimaces on beheaded faces enlarged in an axe strike.

What I wanted to confirm was the faces of the executed.

Fortunately, Defender wasn’t one of them.

That meant he was still alive.

I sighed with relief, but my heart was still heavy.

Cheon Young-jae and Ha Tae-hoon came into my bunker.

I usually hesitate to show my internet activity because of privacy issues, but I felt this time I should share the forum situation with them.

“Hey. This is the same thing we saw in China. Back then, what was it? TikTok? That’s how they did this madness. I still remember that video of Chinese soldiers cutting people up with chainsaws.”

“So this is that satellite internet? And these zealots. They crawl all the way here and keep stirring things up?”

I had spare satellite equipment.

It wouldn’t be a bad idea to offer it to them this time.

The price? Just hit the "like" button on my posts.

A reasonable deal.

But then...

“Hm?”

I noticed a menu option in ONE_FAITH’s post that I hadn’t seen before.

A symbol marked with an “x”, meaning delete.

I clicked it once.

Are you sure you want to delete this post? (Admin privileges required)“!”

Wait a second.

Could this be the armband privilege that VivaBot mentioned earlier?

Right. Let’s give it a try.

Click!

I pressed delete.

The post has been deleted.“What?!”

“How did you do that?”

Cheon Young-jae and Ha Tae-ho, who had been watching, looked shocked.

Ha Tae-hoon, who seemed like he knew the internet better than Cheon Young-jae, stared at me with wide eyes.

“What’s going on? Park Gyu. Are you an admin here?”

I nodded with a meaningful smile.

“...Seems like it.”

It looks like my deletion really got under the zealot's skin.

ONE_FAITH: Why is my post being deleted?

ONE_FAITH: Who did this? Who’s responsible? Did someone hack me?

ONE_FAITH: Do you want to be executed?

I scoffed.

This guy.

He’s a newbie on the internet.