Hiding a House in the Apocalypse-Chapter 93.5: The Man from Jeju (5)

Creak—

The door opened.

I wasn’t carrying a gun.

Just two axes in my hands.

Footsteps followed behind me, and soon, I could feel the weight of countless eyes watching my back.

In a small, enclosed facility like this, rumors spread fast.

There was no such thing as secrecy in this concrete cage, where entertainment was nonexistent.

It was like whispering in an empty winter room—your voice would inevitably reach every corner.

And the audience wasn’t just behind the bars.

On the towering 15-floor-high hexagonal walls, uniformed children stood in orderly lines, having seemingly forgotten their fear of falling, watching me intently from above.

I needed to hurry.

Gripping my axes tightly, I moved forward.

"Stop!!!!!!"

A voice rang out over a loudspeaker.

Jeong Ho-kyung.

Waaaaaaanngg—

He even set off the sirens to stop me.

A slow walk turned into a brisk pace, then a full sprint.

The monster noticed me.

It had remained perfectly still, feigning death, but now it turned its rounded mass, the protrusion resembling its head swiveling toward me.

Then, it began to rise.

Like a giant lid being lifted, the massive gray-white bulk filled my vision.

Hunters in the past had panicked at the sight and instinctively opened fire, only to have their bullets ricochet back at them, leading to their deaths.

It was only after dozens more casualties that the phenomenon of reflective barriers was finally understood.

I don’t blame the hunters of that era.

Because of their records and sacrifices, we were able to prepare better.

"Go back!!!!"

And that’s where I differed from Jeong Ho-kyung—I didn’t deny the past.

"······."

I sprinted at full speed, my eyes locked on the massive silhouette, black against the glare.

It threatened to crush me, like an enormous boulder about to drop, but my feet never hesitated.

The monster’s immense body, lifted high, came crashing down.

Like slamming a thick book onto a bug.

Screeeeeaaaaam—!

Shrieks erupted.

From behind me. From above me.

As the dark mass swallowed me whole, I twisted to the side and launched myself out of its path.

Boom!

The ground shook as the monster crashed down.

A thick cloud of dust billowed into the air as it struggled to rise again.

But—

Crack!

I was already on top of it.

As the creature’s angle shifted toward a vertical stance, my axes never stopped swinging.

Crack!

Crack!

Crunch!

This was less of a hunt and more like chopping firewood.

As its angle tilted further, my body began to slip with gravity.

That’s when it happened.

The monster stopped moving.

At the same time, I saw the chunks of flesh I had cut away dissolve into light.

Effortlessly twirling both axes, I slid them back into the harness holsters strapped to my waist.

Then, using the collapsing monster’s body as a platform, I landed safely on the ground.

Thud!

The creature's lifeless form hit the dirt once more, and moments later, its body began to disintegrate into light particles.

I turned to face the crowd.

Silence.

Then, it was shattered.

"Uwaaaaaaah!!"

"Did you see that?!"

"Wooooooaaaaah!!!"

The walls reverberated with excited echoes, the voices of children cheering wildly.

I looked up at the man standing at the top of the wall, apart from the children.

"······."

Jeong Ho-kyung.

He stared at me without a word, gripping his loudspeaker tightly.

Then he turned and disappeared out of sight.

"Mr. Park!"

Hong Jong-beom came running through the now-open gate, children following behind him.

"I... I don’t even know what to say. You were this strong?"

"······Let’s just clean up."

My gaze turned to the pasture, where the bloated corpse of a cow lay on its back, swollen like a balloon.

"Go get a cart and a hose."

"Hold on."

Hong Jong-beom walked toward the dissipating remains of the monster, its body scattering into glowing particles.

"?"

He wasn’t alone.

Other boys and girls followed him.

Then, they stood before the fading remains, bowing their heads.

Some pressed their palms together in prayer.

Others simply stood in silence.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

Hong Jong-beom answered.

"Praying."

"You’re praying... for a monster?"

My dear Jong-beom.

Surely, you’re not some kind of fanatic?

"No."

Thank god.

"Then who are you praying for?"

"For a friend."

A sorrowful smile tugged at Hong Jong-beom’s lips.

"A friend?"

"Yes. When someone here disappears..."

He placed a gentle hand on the head of a small boy—barely middle school-aged—who was praying beside him.

Then, with mournful eyes, he gazed at the glowing remnants of the monster.

"...A monster appears in their place."

*

Perhaps my clash with Jeong Ho-kyung was inevitable from the start.

He pretended not to recognize my call sign, but in reality, he was obsessed with my presence, to the point of neurosis.

That was why he treated me unfairly, why he tried so hard to diminish me.

It was the other adults at the lighthouse—the ones who had been keeping their distance—who revealed the truth to me.

"The old-school hunters are the real deal. It’s been a while since I felt this kind of thrill."

"Commissioner Jeong keeps boasting about being an 8-Level Awakened, but not one person has actually seen him use his power."

"That guy—he was pacing around muttering 'Professor, Professor' like a rain-soaked stray before you even arrived. He probably hates the idea of being looked down on by you."

The security team, the medics, the quartermasters—all of them had come from Jeju.

And they all despised Jeong Ho-kyung far more than I did.

When I asked why they followed him if they hated him so much—

"Because sticking with Jeong Ho-kyung seemed like a guaranteed ticket to success."

"He always climbed the ranks. The guy made it to a Grade-4 government position at just twenty-two. Do you realize how insane that is? Administrative exams are Grade-5 level, and those are already hell."

"People don’t stay lucky forever, though. In hindsight, we invested way too much in him."

"You shouldn’t have fixed that. If he stayed injured, maybe he’d just give up and go back to Jeju."

The only thing these adults cared about was going home.

Leaving them behind, I headed for Jeong Ho-kyung’s room.

It was still as stuffy, cramped, and humid as before, thick with his scent.

Jeong Ho-kyung sat at his small desk, drenched in sweat, wearing nothing but a sleeveless undershirt.

"Mr. Park."

He handed me something.

A report.

"This details the operations of Kaesong Lighthouse since my arrival. It also explains how we lured the monsters."

A final act of pride?

Not a single word about the pasture.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.

Instead, he had one demand.

"A helicopter from Director Woo’s side will be arriving soon."

"Is that so?"

"You will leave on it."

"This isn’t a request. It’s an order, from the head of Kaesong Lighthouse."

"Let me ask you something."

I locked eyes with him.

The moment our gazes met, I saw his body tremble slightly.

"The kids here say strange things have been happening."

"What do you mean?"

"That monsters appear in the places where children disappear."

Jeong Ho-kyung's lips curled into a knowing smile.

"You don’t actually believe that nonsense about people turning into monsters, do you?"

"Of course not."

"······The disappearances are real, though."

Jeong Ho-kyung sighed heavily, rubbing his head in frustration.

"The Erosion Zone causes mental instability. You know how prolonged exposure messes with cognitive function, making people vanish without a trace."

"Sounds like it’s happened here as well."

"Even adults struggle. How do you expect kids to handle it? But we do our best."

Jeong Ho-kyung stood up and gave me a slight nod.

"Anyway, thanks for reclaiming the pasture."

It wasn’t a deep bow, nothing like the exaggerated ninety-degree one from before.

But this time—

It actually felt genuine.

*

<Milk Rations Begin in a Month!>

- "The cows need time to recover~"

Just because we reclaimed the pasture didn’t mean we could drink milk right away.

The cows were practically skin and bones, their ribs visible beneath their hide. There was no way they’d be producing milk any time soon.

Still, even that one-month wait was enough to bring joy to the children living in this abandoned concrete shell of a building, where they had nothing.

"In a month, we’ll finally get fresh cow’s milk!"

"It’s milk, don’t call it cow’s milk. What are you, some diehard Juche ideology believer?"

"I like calling it cow’s milk. If you love South Korea so much, why don’t you just go there?"

"Yeah, if only they’d let me."

Today's meal was, once again, just flour cakes.

But the atmosphere in the cafeteria was different—hopeful, almost cheerful.

The biggest change was the way the kids treated me.

"How the hell did you get so good at fighting?"

"Did you fight in the Pan-Gari arena?"

"You’re amazing! What were you before? One of those old-school hunters? You know, an Oldboy Hunter?"

All I’d done was kill one monster, yet they were treating me like some kind of superhero from a kids’ show.

"I used to be active back in the day. I was decent, but there was someone far greater—Skeleton, the legend himself..."

I humored them for a bit before stepping out into the hallway.

That’s when I spotted a group of kids I hadn’t seen before.

Neat uniforms.

South Korean kids.

It was obvious they had business with me.

But, alas, I already had a manager.

"Oi, what are you Moran-dong punks doing here, showing your faces to our Mr. Park? Ain’t that bitch of a teacher yours?"

Hong Jong-beom, my self-appointed assistant-turned-manager, started provoking the Moran-dong kids the moment they showed up.

At first, he’d been content just talking down to them, but now, he was puffing out his chest like a full-fledged lackey.

I wasn’t exactly fond of kids, but I did take fan service seriously.

So, for the ones who had come all the way here, I responded kindly.

"Come to the pasture tomorrow at lunch if you’ve got time. There’s work to do."

"Yes!"

The Moran-dong kids beamed and ran off.

The moment they left, Hong Jong-beom started grumbling.

"Mr. Park, what’s the deal? When that bitch of a teacher was ignoring you, we were the ones standing by your side, backing you up!"

Honestly, Hong Jong-beom wasn’t exactly handsome.

Sure, he was young, but he was tall and lanky, his cheekbones jutted out, and his academic-looking face made him seem more like an old scholar than a kid.

Compared to the bright, sharp-eyed children who’d just left, he was practically an uncle.

But I had to admit—he was my most loyal follower.

"Here."

I reached into my belongings and pulled out a single bullet.

A 5.56mm NATO round.

A simple bullet, but I took a marker and wrote my call sign on it.

<Professor>

That was all it took for the bullet to become something special.

"Professor. That was my call sign back in the day."

Hong Jong-beom, all 183 centimeters of him—almost as tall as me—grinned like a ten-year-old as he held the bullet in his hands.

"Thank you, Mr. Park—no, Professor!"

After sending him off, I sat down and read the activity logs I’d taken from Jeong Ho-kyung.

A quiet night, illuminated only by a desk lamp.

I skimmed through the records of this lighthouse’s operations, nodding as I went.

"...Hmph."

It was well-thought-out.

And, more importantly, it worked.

For an entire year, Kaesong Lighthouse had successfully held back monsters from advancing into the capital region.

But I couldn’t deny it—the lighthouse’s future was bleak.

Because, in the end, no human could hold onto an eternal flame.

*

"Huff!"

I woke up drenched in cold sweat.

"······."

Internet withdrawal.

I hadn’t been online in nearly a week.

By now, Kim Daram had probably given up being angry—or even remembering me. It was about time I made a quiet return.

Most importantly, I had stories to tell.

Not some trash-tier nonsense on a site like Blinder, but a proper, high-class Viva! Apocalypse! post.

It was time to resume the legendary "Skeleton’s Story Series."

"When are you coming? Three days? Can’t you get here faster? I swear, staying in this place is making me dizzy... Ugh. I feel lightheaded just thinking about it...."

I contacted Lightning via K-Walkie-Talkie, making it clear that I needed to be extracted ASAP.

Then, I headed to the cafeteria.

One look at the menu and my appetite vanished.

I quietly turned around, returned to my room, and pulled out my emergency stash.

<MRE - 09>

A gift from Rebecca and Sue.

To be honest, it wasn’t delicious, but it was leagues ahead of the half-cooked flour cakes they served here.

With my back turned to the door, I opened the package, poured the contents into my mess kit, and started eating.

Beef stew—at least, something that resembled beef stew.

Just as I was about to take another bite—

Knock, knock—

Someone knocked on the door.

"?!"

Shit.

What do I do?

I hesitated.

I had the right to eat whatever I wanted.

But something told me that letting others see me eating this alone would be bad.

Knock, knock—

Another knock.

I had to say something.

"Ah—"

But before I could even finish speaking—

Creak—

The door opened.

"Mr. Park?!"

Jeong Ho-kyung’s voice.

"······."

I remained completely still, back turned, saying nothing.

A moment of awkward silence.

Then, ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) Jeong Ho-kyung sniffed the air.

"Uh, well... I just came to inform you. Monster alert. There’s a forecast of a monster surge from Paju. When the eruption starts, we’ll be lighting the lighthouse."

"······."

"I figured you'd want to see it, so I came to let you know...."

Then, he left.

He even closed the door gently behind him.

No doubt about it—he had the instincts of a true government official.

I finished the last of my meal and headed out to the pasture.

The kids were already waiting.

South Korean kids on one side. North Korean kids on the other.

Keeping their distance from each other.

I approached them and asked,

"They’re lighting the lighthouse?"

"Yes!"

The kids nodded.

"Probably tomorrow? At the latest, the day after."

"That so?"

I was in luck.

I’d get to see Kaesong Lighthouse in action before heading home.

Not only would it satisfy my curiosity, but it would also make my Skeleton’s Story Series even better.

But there was one small problem.

I didn’t see my No. 1 follower, Hong Jong-beom.