Hiding a House in the Apocalypse-Chapter 99.2: The Four Axes (2)

“This is Defender. Took down two enemy drones. I’m heading straight for John Nae-non’s server room now.”

“The vehicles split up. I can’t get an exact count—the illumination flares are too bright.”

“They’re coming from the south. Two vehicles? I’ll need a closer look.”

One of the biggest reasons decisions are difficult in battle is the asymmetry of information.

In normal circumstances, there’s barely any information at all—it’s almost boring. But once a battle begins, an overwhelming flood of data makes it nearly impossible to process everything at once.

I was experiencing it firsthand.

“Uwaaaahhh!!”

“Grrraaaaah!!!”

“Krrrhhh!”

Hundreds of zombies were chasing me.

I wasn’t entirely sure, but I could sense waves of monstrous energy as well.

“I just felt something... like a monster’s aura.”

Ha Tae-hoon backed up my intuition immediately.

“I woke up a horde of zombies. No idea how many of them will head your way, so just stay low and wait it out. They’re all focused on me right now.”

Humans might be slower than beasts, but our greatest evolutionary advantage has always been our legs.

Especially when the ones chasing us are also bipedal.

“Uwaaaaaaaah!!”

Among the horde were Runners—the most dangerous type of zombie.

Simply put, they’re faster than regular zombies.

But in another sense, they also represent a limit.

If I can outrun the Runners, I can outrun all of them.

Three shadows danced violently across the ground in the flare’s glow, sprinting after me.

Climbing over wreckage, I vaulted over an obstacle.

For a moment, I could feel them right behind me, their clawed hands reaching for my hair—but the distance widened.

Some of them managed to climb over the debris to continue the chase, but by then, I was already scaling a staircase, eyeing the precarious gap to the adjacent building.

I don’t like acrobatics.

But when necessary, I don’t hesitate.

Hearing the pounding of undead footsteps, I took a step back—then sprinted forward, launching myself over the wide gap.

Thud!

I hit the ground and rolled forward.

At the same time, I kept a firm grip on my rifle to stabilize it.

I could feel the zombies across from me, watching.

But I had already melted into the darkness.

“This is Park Gyu. I’ve shaken off most of the zombies. How’s your situation?”

“Oh... It’s happening. The zombies are heading straight for the Chinese vehicles.”

The high-altitude drones were neutralized by the illumination rounds, but Cheon Young-jae had taken their place from his vantage point.

Bang! Bang! Tatatatang!

The distinct crackle of Chinese-made rifles rang out.

The zombies that had lost sight of me had now discovered an even louder and brighter target—the Chinese army.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Gunfire erupted in rapid succession.

I stayed hidden in the shadows, silently drawing an axe and using its handle to steady my rifle.

No signs of zombies nearby.

The ones that had been around me had all swarmed the Chinese vehicles.

The Chinese army’s strength was in overwhelming numbers.

But zombies?

Zombies used the same strategy—except they did it even better.

Bang! Bang!

Boom!

Gunfire and even grenade explosions echoed through the night.

Ha Tae-hoon’s voice crackled over the radio.

“Shit. Two zombies just climbed up here.”

“Two shouldn’t be a problem for a school graduate like you.”

“Of course not. But still, Professor—you’re a genius. Using a move like this here? Damn.”

“How’s the server room?”

“Oh, right. Hm? ...Damn. This is a pain.”

“What’s the problem?”

“The drones are regrouping in that direction.”

“They caught the scent?”

“Must have. Losing drones at such a critical moment? One of their vehicles is already redirecting toward that area. Looks like it’s heading for the camp.”

“So that’s their play.”

By waking up necromancer-type zombies, we had bought some time.

But from what I could tell, the Chinese forces had changed their focus—they were reinforcing the shrine’s defenses instead of chasing us.

“Young-jae.”

Foll𝑜w current novels on fɾēewebnσveℓ.com.

“Yeah.”

“Can you see the Chinese troops from there?”

“Hmm... I see one armored vehicle.”

“Think you can spook them with a few rounds?”

“Why?”

“We need to stall them.”

“I’ll give it a shot.”

The gunfire began immediately after the comms went silent.

“One down.”

As expected of a school graduate.

“What now?”

“Disengage from your current position. Move to the next spot.”

“Got it.”

Then—two voices overlapped on the radio.

“It’s John Nae-non’s room! Found it!”

That was Da-jeong.

“Necromancer-type zombies advancing on the Chinese. Contact imminent.”

That was Ha Tae-hoon.

Thud—

A massive shockwave sent goosebumps across my entire body.

I had to prioritize.

“Open the lead-lined door and get inside. You’ll find the server, the machines... and probably a corpse.”

“John Nae-non?”

“Yeah. Look for a desk. There should be a hidden compartment in the first drawer. The backup disk should be inside.”

“Got it. I’ll check.”

I was about to cut the call when static interference crackled over the radio.

A voice I didn’t recognize spoke in Chinese.

I didn’t understand a word.

But Ha Tae-hoon did.

“Shit. Are you guys hearing this?”

He turned to us.

“They hacked our frequency. Those bastards can hear everything!”

The Chinese soldier’s voice continued, loud and aggressive, through our comms.

And then—they appeared.

Bipedal combat drones.

Three of them.

Right in front of John Nae-non’s shrine.

“They’ve formed a fan-shaped perimeter. Even if we find the disk, we can’t get out.”

Ha Tae-hoon’s voice wavered.

He wasn’t as mentally resilient as I had assumed.

“Defender. You listening?”

“Yeah.”

Da-jeong’s voice was lower than before—far colder.

“Hold on a little longer. Soon...”

“Hey. Do you remember Original Dongtanmom?”

“The original?”

“Not the idiot who got tricked into going to China. The other one.”

“Oh~ that guy?”

“Yeah. Let’s do it like him.”

“How?”

“Destroy the disk. Just like he would.”

“Dongtanmom-style?”

“Yeah. Dongtanmom-style.”

The radio went silent.

Then—Ha Tae-hoon’s voice.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah. I am.”

Ha Tae-hoon didn’t understand.

But our Viva! Apocalypse! veterans did.

And there was no way the Chinese soldiers would understand what we just said.

“Park! The necromancer zombies just reached the Chinese forces!”

“Oh?”

“...Shit. Bai Tou is getting off the truck.”

Something interesting was happening on the Chinese side.

I started moving.

Toward Ha Tae-hoon’s hideout.

“...Ah.”

Da-jeong’s voice came through.

“This...”

Her voice shook.

“It’s John Nae-non, isn’t it?”

I couldn’t see it.

But she was probably looking at my role model’s corpse.

“He’s holding twin axes. Arms crossed. Standing with his back to the server... He died on his feet.”

“A glorious death.”

“...”

“...There’s a desk. I see it.”

Da-jeong had never liked John Nae-non.

She had never even respected him.

But now, faced with the death of a fellow survivor, she couldn’t help but feel solemn.

“I opened the first drawer. And...”

She swallowed.

“I found the disk.”

I nodded.

“Hey! Hong Jung-ho’s sister! Three enemy drones are heading straight for you! All of them!”

Even Ha Tae-hoon was shouting directly at Da-jeong now.

I grinned and told her.

“Now—it’s all on you.”

“...Yeah.”

“What?! I thought we were destroying the disk?!”

Ha Tae-hoon’s confused voice rang out.

“It’s our code.”

“A code?! Dongtanmom?!”

“Yeah. Something like that. Anyway...”

I could see it now.

Beneath the glaring light of the illumination flares, a field of corpses—zombies piled atop one another in heaps.

And standing above them, unmoving like a grim monument, was the necromancer-type monster.

And in front of it, gripping a Qinglong Yanyue Dao, stood a man.

I moved quietly toward the hideout, watching.

The man with the Qinglong Yanyue Dao charged.

The necromancer monster carved crackling arcs of preemptive attack trajectories in the air before unleashing a beam of death energy.

The man instantly read the path of the attack, dodging into the blind zone where the ray couldn’t reach, and continued his relentless sprint—his massive polearm swinging for the monster’s head.

Shwick!

True to its weapon class, the polearm’s destructive force far surpassed my axes.

With a single strike, the necromancer’s torso twisted violently to the side.

The monster flailed its arms in a desperate counterattack, but the man’s merciless follow-up strikes shredded it apart in seconds.

Not even ten seconds had passed before the monster disintegrated into glowing particles.

“Holy shit... that bastard is insane. He’s a monster.”

Even Cheon Young-jae’s voice trembled—a rare thing.

I slipped back into position.

A concealed truck, hidden under camouflage.

A real doll—lying underneath it, for reasons unknown.

Beyond the nearby stairs lay our hideout.

“Coming in.”

As I climbed the steps, Ha Tae-hoon greeted me—his gun raised, his cold gaze full of murderous intent.

Once he confirmed my identity, he immediately lowered his weapon.

“Look at this. Our drone recovered the disk.”

He gestured toward the manipulator arm of the drone, which clutched the backup disk.

But my attention wasn’t on that.

It was on the corner of the room—where a man had turned into light.

“John Nae-non...”

Just as Da-jeong had said, he had died standing, his body posed as if still defending his server.

And that server was still alive, its many lights flickering like a living entity.

Inside that sacred tomb, an intruder appeared.

Bang! Tatatatatata!

The Super Skelton opened fire.

A single burst shattered an enemy drone’s camera and ripped its head apart.

“One down.”

Super Skelton moved side to side, using the server as cover.

Another enemy drone emerged from the stairs.

Tatata-tatata-tang!

Again, the Super Skelton’s rage roared.

But the enemy pilot wasn’t a fool—they immediately took cover.

The bullets chipped at the drone’s armored plating, but nothing more.

Then—the enemy drone suddenly lunged forward, sprinting toward us.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

It fired single shots as it moved.

I couldn’t tell exactly why, but it was trying to gain a better position.

Then—the entire view shook.

Super Skelton jumped.

It leaped over the server, landing on top of it.

“What the hell...”

Ha Tae-hoon gasped.

Super Skelton’s gun roared.

Tatata-tang!

The bullets hit perfectly, slamming into the enemy drone’s head, destroying it instantly.

Ha Tae-hoon couldn’t stop himself from cheering.

“This guy is unreal! Is he a professional drone pilot or what?!”

“That’s two down. One left.”

Da-jeong’s calm voice came through.

But then—

“...Huh?”

Click.

Click.

Click.

A grating, metallic sound echoed through the speakers.

Ha Tae-hoon and I exchanged glances.

Gun jam.

“This is why Made in China is—!!”

“Defender. Any other weapons?”

“No. Just my fists.”

Worst-case scenario.

One drone left, and we had no weapons.

“What’s the durability of your fists?” I asked Ha Tae-hoon.

“The manipulator arms on the robot are designed for handling objects, not punching enemy drones like some anime robot.”

“What about a kick?”

“Uh... well. That drone doesn’t fall easily, but if it does, it’s hard for it to get back up.”

“So, kicks are out too.”

The situation was getting worse.

Then—

Whiiiiiiirrrr—

A drone hovered into view.

A combat-recon hybrid—the same kind we had shot down earlier.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

We destroyed it immediately.

But that was it.

Now, they knew our position.

“...”

I thought about enemy numbers.

The initial Chinese force had thirty soldiers.

They came in four vehicles.

But two of those vehicles had returned to their base.

Which meant our remaining enemies numbered around fifteen.

Still a bad number.

But better than thirty.

And thinking positively was better for morale.

“Da-jeong.”

I said her name without thinking.

“Skelton?!”

She sounded shocked.

I had slipped up.

But there was no time to dwell on it.

I stared at the tablet screen, watching the silent, flickering tomb of John Nae-non.

Then, I asked:

“Can you fight in close quarters?”

“If I had a weapon.”

“You do.”

“A weapon? Where—ah...!!”

Da-jeong realized it.

“John Nae-non’s axes?”

“Yeah.”

“You sure? Skelton, you admired him so much. You even copied his stupid horse-head avatar...”

“It’s fine. He’d understand.”

I gazed at the mummified corpse on the screen.

“Because he was a true Hunter.”

The screen tilted forward.

A nod—a sign of affirmation.

“I’ll do it.”

“It’s fine even if you fail. Worst case? You just don’t make it to Jeju.”

“So just fight like usual—kill. You’re good at killing, right?”

“...Jeju?”

Suddenly, the real Defender’s voice cut in.

He had been listening the whole time.

“...”

“...Ah. Just something that came up. Get moving! We’re in trouble here too.”

“Alright! But after this, we’re talking about Jeju!”

“Uh... yeah.”

I brushed it off and tried to end the comms.

But another disaster arrived.

“Hey. Park. Ha. The Chinese are coming your way.”

“And that monster with the Qinglong Yanyue Dao is with them...”

As soon as Ha Tae-hoon heard the word Qinglong Yanyue Dao, ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) his face went pale.

“Bai Tou... Bai Tou is coming...!!”

He must have seen him fight.

Must have felt it firsthand.

I patted his shoulder.

“Hey.”

“...?”

He looked at me.

I spoke quietly.

“Did you forget who I am?”

Ha Tae-hoon’s eyes changed.

“Professor...”

I lifted my axes.

The two blades danced in my hands—almost as if they had a will of their own.

“You speak good Chinese, right?”

Ha Tae-hoon nodded.

“To some extent.”

“Then tell that Qinglong Dao clown this—”

The dancing axes suddenly stopped, their edges settling firmly into my gloved hands.

“Professor wants a duel.”