Hiding a House in the Apocalypse-Chapter 55.3: 20 Hours and 30 Minutes (3)

"One last favor. I know I’m not in a position to ask, but just this once—please, I’m begging you!"

Baek Seung-hyun bowed his head.

The sight of him bowing looked strangely familiar.

It was the kind of practiced humility you often see in people who make a living out of bowing their heads.

"This is a tough one."

I had no desire to grant this man’s request, nor did I want to deal with him on the internet ever again.

But then, without meaning to, Filkrum88’s words flashed through my mind.

He’d mentioned that bringing in satellite equipment wasn’t particularly difficult.

"Are you sure you can’t bring it on board?"

"Yeah. They said not to bring anything with signals that could give away its location because of Chinese submarines."

Baek Seung-hyun cradled his baby, looking at me with desperate eyes.

"Isn’t there any way you can help?"

I stared at him silently before nodding slowly.

"I’ll check with the research lab."

"You’ll really do that?!"

I wasn’t doing it out of kindness.

I was curious.

Why was it possible for Filkrum88 but not for Baek Seung-hyun? What was the reason behind the double standard?

"...Yeah."

After parting ways with him, I returned to the entrance of Hunter Street and lingered near the research lab’s entrance.

I could’ve just told the guards where I was headed and gone inside, but I figured it might be easier if I ran into a researcher I knew.

It seemed luck was on my side today.

A female researcher I recognized was outside the lab, smoking a cigarette and drinking coffee with her colleagues.

Just as I began walking toward her, someone grabbed my arm.

I’d already noticed him earlier.

The thin, dark-skinned old man who had been standing near the entrance to Hunter Street, watching me.

Ignoring people is an essential survival skill in a post-apocalyptic city.

So I had been treating him as if he didn’t exist—until now, when he suddenly grabbed my wrist.

Slowly but firmly, I twisted my arm to break free from his grip and stared at him.

"What is it?"

The old man met my gaze.

"If you board that ship, you’ll die."

"I’m not boarding it."

"I wasn’t talking about you. I meant the short-haired man you were just talking to. The one with the baby. Isn’t he boarding the ship too?"

"Why don’t you tell him that yourself?"

"It doesn’t feel like it’s someone else’s problem. My son boarded that ship. With my grandchild."

It took less than three seconds to realize the old man wasn’t mentally stable.

His uneasy gaze, halting speech, and wandering eyes that seemed to look not at me but through me—all signs were there. His mind was elsewhere, in some dimension I wanted no part of.

"...I killed them. Even the newborn baby."

Another rambling monologue.

As I debated how to shake him off, a sharp yell rang out from the street.

"Hey! You not leaving?!"

It was Baek Seung-hyun.

"You’re not leaving, you son of a bitch?!"

He yanked off his belt and brandished it as if he was about to strike, and only then did the old man reluctantly bow his head and shuffle away.

After intimidating the old man, Baek turned to me with a big smile, pressed his palms together, and made a pleading gesture.

"..."

I didn’t want to help him, but it seemed luck was on his side.

The female researcher who had been smoking noticed me and approached first.

*

“What brings you here? By the way, Director Woo has been talking a lot about Hunter Park Gyu recently.”

The woman’s name was written on the ID badge hanging around her neck, but I neither looked nor bothered to read it.

“Oh, it’s nothing much. I heard the ship to Jeju is leaving tomorrow, so I wanted to check something.”

There were several reasons for my visit, but the biggest one was probably resentment.

It bothered me that, in these desperate times when everyone—even graduates from my school—were reduced to misery, there were still people who carried the same carefree cleanliness and vivacity of pre-war days.

I wasn’t about to bring up the dead to make my point.

I simply didn’t like it.

Seeing someone who had made no preparations but was living well, simply because they had good connections, was hard to stomach.

“I see. By the way, do you have a moment? I think Director Woo might be able to see you once their meeting is over.”

“Yes, please. I’d appreciate it.”

Regardless of my personal grudge, things were going smoothly.

When was the last time my plans went this well?

Never, as far as I could remember.

Perhaps it was Baek Seung-hyun’s luck rubbing off on me.

After all, he was at least three times as lucky as I was. Unlike me, he had a wife and child.

“Senior, long time no see.”

I came face-to-face with Woo Min-hee.

She hadn’t changed a bit.

As always, she sat calmly at a compact black steel table, her expressionless face adorned with a faint, mocking smile, as if she were laughing at the world.

This time, I paid particular attention to her prosthetic arm.

It had three hook-like fingers. I couldn’t help but wonder how she managed to draw those intricate wave patterns with it.

Still, she wouldn’t appreciate me staring, so I quickly moved on to the point before she noticed my gaze.

“It’s about Baek Seung-hyun.”

“That guy?”

The moment I mentioned his name, the smile vanished from her lips.

“...He’s a father now. Did you know he’s raising a baby?”

“I don’t care.”

“He says he wants to take something onboard for his child...”

“What is it?”

“Well, you see...”

I felt a surge of irritation.

Seeing her annoyed expression made one question flood my mind.

Why, of all people, did I have to deal with her mood swings over someone like Baek Seung-hyun?

To put it simply, because of one pathetic senior, I had to tiptoe around a competent junior and even lie.

This wasn’t right.

It wasn’t like I owed Baek any loyalty.

I immediately dropped the pretense and told her the truth.

“Well, actually, Baek wants to bring a satellite internet device onboard. That’s all.”

It wasn’t common knowledge, but I used to be quite the tattletale back in school.

Not because I enjoyed snitching.

Fueled by a sense of duty, young Park Gyu couldn’t tolerate students who disrupted the school’s discipline.

Even as a child, I had foresight. After graduation, I’d have to fight monsters alongside my classmates. Better to weed out the incompetent ones early.

Reviving that spirit, I laid everything bare before my junior.

“...He knows it violates compliance regulations, but when has Baek ever followed the rules? So, with his pathetic little brain, he remembered I used to be on your team and told me to ask you if you could bypass the rules for him.”

Woo Min-hee stared at me for a moment before speaking.

“Senior, that’s the first time I’ve heard you talk without pausing for breath.”

“...Guess I got carried away.”

She smirked.

Her face, heavily powdered to hide scars and painted with blood-red lipstick, looked unsettling even to my battle-hardened eyes.

“Yum-yum?”

She was testing me.

A sudden attack.

“Yum? Are you hungry?”

Still suspicious of me, was she?

“You use the internet, don’t you?”

The way she kept pressing suggested she wasn’t letting this go.

“No, I don’t. Didn’t we already talk about this before?”

“You look like someone who does.”

“No, seriously, I don’t like it.”

“Why not?”

“I’ll admit it’s convenient, but I don’t like how people hide behind masks and say whatever they want. You know me, right? My past, all about law and order?”

“Skelton.”

“Skelping? Oh, I haven’t done that in ages.”

“Don’t you know ‘Skelton’?”

“Oh, my personal identification code! Why are you asking about that?”

“Why Skelton?”

Woo Min-hee rested her chin on her hooked prosthetic fingers, folding them inward so they faced down.

“Why’d you choose Skelton? It’s not even a callsign.”

Why was she like this? What did I do wrong?

I hadn’t done anything to warrant suspicion.

Could she have some mind-reading ability?

No, that kind of Awakened power was usually low-level and only worked on intentions or feelings of hostility.

“Skelton? That nickname came from China.”

Since she’d asked, I figured I might as well answer.

The name Skelton originated during my time in China.

It was a story from an era dominated by blood, war, death, and a baseless confidence that humanity wouldn’t collapse.

Back then, a new mid-tier monster type called Leishen appeared on the battlefield.

Like most mid-tier monsters, it was designed for combat, unleashing devastating electricity that turned hunters attempting close combat into smoldering corpses.

When the creature approached command, I noticed that part of its electricity was being drawn to a lightning rod on a ruined building.

As the team leader, I improvised a plan on the spot.

We set up as many electrical conductors as possible along its path, while I, fully insulated in protective gear, led the close-combat charge with support from our ranged team.

After a fierce battle against the towering, electrified beast, the Chinese hunters applauded me and started calling me "Skelton."

Later, I learned why. They said that during the fight, my body looked like a skeleton every time the monster discharged electricity and shockwaves.

A video from behind showed a skeletal figure wielding an axe, charging at the monster and tearing it apart.

“That’s how I became Skelton. I mean, ‘Professor’ sounds way too pretentious.”

“Oh, I see. That’s quite a story. Still, it’s reckless, taking on a monster like that with such a brute-force method.”

She chuckled faintly.

“Very much like you, Senior.”

After a brief, awkward silence, I spoke up.

“Anyway, about this thing with Baek. Can we just pretend we didn’t talk about it? He’s been pestering me nonstop.”

My goal of saving M9 was accomplished.

Everything else was trivial.

I planned to avoid Baek entirely after this and never see him again.

But—

“No, it’s actually a great idea.”

I had underestimated Woo Min-hee.

“A very amusing idea.”

Her scarred face twisted into a characteristic, cruel smile.

I had forgotten how unreadable my junior could be.

“Senior, you know Yang Sang-gil, right?”

She asked casually.

“Yang Sang-gil?”

Yang Sang-gil.

It had been a while since I’d heard that name.

A man who climbed to the highest ranks of the Gukwiwon through luck and political scheming, despite being neither an old-school hunter, an Awakened, nor even a soldier.

In a way, his rise was remarkable. He was the superior of the late Lee Sang-hoon.

Though Sang-hoon had never considered Yang Sang-gil his superior.

But why was his name suddenly coming out of Woo Min-hee’s mouth?

“The Jeju fleet. It’s his project.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Director Yang Sang-gil. You know he’s a nobody, right? But now it’s been three years since the war started. People are starting to wonder why he’s even in that position. He has no notable record, isn’t an Awakened, and his only qualification is passing the civil service exam.”

“What’s Yang Sang-gil up to?”

“You’ll see.”

She stared into the air with a chilling grin.

“...”

Then she looked at me.

“Tell Dongtanmom he can bring the equipment.”

“Who’s Dongtanmom?”

“Wow, Senior, you’re good at playing dumb. A true professor.”

Nice try.

If there’s anything left in this world besides my body, it’s my unshakable determination.

Still, the way she smiled made me wonder if she was 100% sure I was Skelton.

Did she base it on the Chairman Je Pung-ho rumors?

That wouldn’t be enough to confirm it.

Maybe she was just guessing, based on similarities between my nickname and identification code.

But then, she dropped something I couldn’t ignore.

I looked at her seriously and asked, “Is there a problem with the Jeju fleet?”

“Probably? But no one expected it to end up in China.”

So it really had gone to China.

“Was it an accident?”

Just as the conversation was getting interesting, my borrowed luck from Baek Seung-hyun ran out.

The landline phone on her desk started ringing loudly.

With a wave of her hooked hand, she motioned for me to leave.

“Let’s talk next time. Looks like a lot of interesting things are about to happen.”

For a brief moment, I thought I saw her prosthetic arm move as if it were alive.

*

"Aw, come here~! Kiyaa~! That’s it. Good job, good job."

The most uptodat𝓮 n𝒐vels are published on freёnovelkiss.com.

Soothing the baby was always Baek Seung-hyun’s responsibility.

Meanwhile, his young wife was at the computer, typing away.

Tap, tap, tap.

I watched her typing intently, like a hawk.

dongtanmom: Yum yum... You losers who can’t make it to Jeju... Guess I won’t have to see you anymore after tomorrow... Yum yum...

"?"

For a moment, I felt one of the walls I had built inside me crumble.

Could it be? Was the true identity of dongtanmom not Baek Seung-hyun but actually his wife?

For a fleeting moment, I felt something akin to guilt toward Baek Seung-hyun.

No matter how vile he was, accusing him of being dongtanmom had clearly been a grave injustice.

"Hey, look at this. M9 is at it again, whining," his wife said, turning to Baek with a laugh. Baek, holding the baby in his arms, sat in front of the laptop and began typing at an impressive speed.

dongtanmom: Yum yum... From Jeju... I’ll be watching you all suffer and die slowly while eating popcorn... Yum yum...

"..."

Was this the infamous saying about couples mirroring each other?

Or perhaps a case of birds of a feather flocking together?

In an era where the generational gap wasn’t as wide as it used to be, maybe their marriage was simply destiny.

Either way, I had news to share with this irredeemable newlywed couple.

"Really?! We can bring it onboard?"

"Yes."

"Of course! Professor! Even if you're past your prime, you’re still on another level compared to a low-tier hunter like me. Amazing!"

Baek was genuinely delighted. His wife seemed pleased as well.

Only the baby in his arms, who looked just like him, stared at me with innocent, wide eyes.

Suddenly, the baby spoke.

"...Je-je-ju."

Was that babbling?

It was my first time witnessing it in person.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one seeing it for the first time.

"He spoke!"

"It’s his first word!"

The same people who spewed such venom online were now bursting with pure joy, embracing and cherishing the fruit of their union.

Watching them, I tried to suppress any thoughts, but perhaps even I couldn’t help being a regular human in moments like this.

"Excuse me," I said, breaking the mood.

I told him the truth—that going to Jeju could be dangerous.

But, as people basking in happiness often do, Baek brushed off my words without much concern.

"What? So they’ll save the artsy types and kill us?"

"It’s just a rumor, but better to be cautious."

"Come on, Park, are you really listening to those crooks?"

"Better safe than sorry, don’t you think?"

The Day of Departure.

At the docks, I watched alongside a crowd of people as they prepared to board the promised paradise, Jeju.

The first person I sought was Filkrum.

He wasn’t hard to find. He was standing in line with other notable figures receiving flashes of cameras, all boarding the same ship.

The vessel he boarded was the Hope, a converted oil tanker and the flagship of the second fleet.

Next, I searched for Baek Seung-hyun.

He was at the back, away from the spotlight. Holding his baby, he quietly boarded the same ship.

Both Baek and Filkrum were on the Hope.

"...Hm?"

The unexpected overlap threw me off.

Just as I was about to turn and leave, a scream rang out behind me.

Down an alley, an old man was being beaten by a group of boys.