Mutagen-Chapter 1194: The Southern Peninsula, The Post-Apocalyptic Situation of South Korea
Day 381 - 4:32 PM - Yeongdo Walled City, Yeongdo District, Busan, South Korea
South Korea. It was a country famous around the world for its pop culture and innovative technology, among other things. Unfortunately, just like every country around the world, it faced its catastrophic fall when the apocalypse came.
A significant number of internationally popular zombie movies originated from this country. While it might seem that some of these media could guide people on how to act or anticipate events in an apocalypse, the reality was different. In the face of Mutagen, most references ended up useless.
Beyond the on-screen lessons, there was one extremely important thing that these movies failed to address or even mention. It was South Korea’s natural geographic landscape.
The majority of South Korean territory was composed of hills and mountains. Some mountain ranges even reached far across the peninsula. The country’s human habitation was scattered between these large bodies of land, with the majority of the population living in the western, flatter areas of the country.
Thus, South Korea became a giant apocalyptic maze for its desperate survivors.
Due to this maze, escaping through the road on wheels became extremely hard, if not impossible. The routes for escape were limited by the mountains, causing massive traffic congestion during the initial evacuation process. The evacuees had to move on foot, causing more panic as the [Infected] caught up to them.
Going off the road and into the mountains became a lifeline to many during the first two days. It wasn’t until the higher concentration of [Mutagen] in the sky reached the peaks of the mountain.
The blanket of [Mutagen] in the sky. It was the first cause of the apocalypse as the first victims aboard airplanes were exposed to an intolerable concentration of this unknown pathogen, causing them to rapidly mutate into flesh-craving monsters. Although [Mutagen] soon spread across the world and affected every living being to a more tolerable degree, a higher concentration of the pathogen still affected higher locations such as peaks of tall mountains. It caused early advanced mutations and evolutions of animals and creatures in the affected locations.
These early advanced mutations of mountain creatures were also felt in most countries with sky-high mountains. However, it was more noticeable and impactful in countries like South Korea due to the sheer number of mountains in this country.
In the next few days after the apocalypse began, most of those who retreated to the mountains ended up as food for the animals that had turned into ferocious beasts, pushing them back into the dangers of the [Infected]-infested roads.
The cycle of escaping the roads and retreating from the mountains continued until the majority of the human population in South Korea was wiped out.
Unfortunately, being in the western areas where there were fewer mountains did not make it easier. With most of the country’s population concentrated there, the number of [Mutated Infected] increased easily. Seoul, Incheon, and other central cities of South Korea fell after a few days.
The worst thing was that the majority of those who survived the cities tried to go to the eastern, mountainous areas of the country, only to experience the same fate as those who lived there.
However, it was not like the apocalypse wiped out the entire population of South Korea in its early days. Those who were lucky, the resourceful individuals, and those in power managed to survive and reach the few settlements and evacuation areas designated by the South Korean government.
Most of those evacuation locations were in the west and south, taking advantage of the natural defenses the islands there provided. Of course, it turned out to be a flawed plan after the sea creatures began mutating and evolving. Nonetheless, those who reached those islands had fewer worries compared to those who remained on the mainland.
But as the [Second Wave] came, the [Fusion of Dimensions] and the arrival of the [Mechids], most of those island settlements were destroyed. Out of the fifty-one and a half million population of South Korea before the outbreak, only nearly half a million remained.
Those who survived until now were concentrated in two locations. Yeongdo District in Busan and Wando Island in South Jeolla.
While Busan was pretty expected, Wando Island was the opposite. In fact, it was not a designated settlement by the government. It was where people who intended to go to Jeju Island, the main evacuation location, gathered. Unfortunately, entry to Jeju Island was highly restricted, allowing only those people with professions and fame. As such, those who did not pass the requirements were left on Wando Island, stranded long before all transportation was cut off.
Who would have thought that only allowing a limited number of people on Jeju Island would be the cause of its destruction?
The barrier that protected the people during the [Second Wave] depended on the number of people and their unity. The limited number of people on Jeju Island, and with many of them belonging to competing political and business factions, the barrier became weak. It could not withstand the effects of the [Second Wave], and most people there perished in the process.
On the other hand, the people stranded and abandoned on Wando Island, which had a larger number and were united by their hate against those who fled to Jeju, survived the catastrophe.
Opposite to Jeju Island’s fate, the Yeongdo District’s settlement managed to survive since its establishment. However, it was not designated or run by the government or the army. Setting their differences and oppositions aside, the Chaebol families decided to work together for once, establishing the Yeongdo Walled City. It accepted all survivors into its gates as long as they obeyed the system established inside.
It may not be the best place to be due to its merit and status-based system. However, being within its walls protected everyone from all dangers outside.
Of course, the life inside was far from perfect. Different divisions were established on the island, separating those less privileged from those with more status.
Poorer areas were found near the walls, while safer and more lavish structures were present near the center.
If one wanted to live near the center, they must show their worth. This was the kind of life in the Yeongdo Walled City.
***
Day 381 - 4:41 PM - Daeyeon Ruins, Nam District, Busan, South Korea
In the ruins of the neighborhood of Daeyeon, a man could be seen running through the streets as fast as a cheetah.
"Sung-Min! Hurry up!"
A woman’s voice echoed from the radio that the running man was carrying.
"Why are you telling me to hurry up? You think I’m not running fast enough?"
The man, Park Sung-Min, yelled back at the radio as he continued running.
Why was he running?
NGROOAR!!!
A pig-like snorting roar echoed behind Park Sung-Min. It was because behind him, a wild boar, about the size of a city bus, was chasing him like there was no tomorrow.
CRUSH!
While Park Sung-Min ran while avoiding obstacles like trees and ruined buildings, the wild boar behind him just plowed through everything.
But all of a sudden, Park Sung-Min vanished. The wild boar noticed that the human it was chasing was gone, but it could not stop since it was running at full speed, trying to catch the fast human. Nonetheless, it tried to slow down.
And at that moment...
"Yong-Gyu! Yong-Hwa!"
A voice echoed through the unseen radio.
"No need to tell us!"
"We know already!"
Two voices, a male and a female, shouted as two human silhouettes appeared from both sides of the wild boar.
SQUUUIRK!
The wild boar squealed as it noticed the humans who appeared. Unfortunately, it was late.
"HHA!!!!!"
"YAP!"
The two humans, Kim Yong-Gyu and Kim Yong-Hwa, shouted as they pierced metal spears into the wild boar’s neck from both sides.
SQUIIIIRKK!!!
The wild boar squealed loudly from pain and began trashing around. Unfortunately, while the spears caused it pain, it seemed that it was unable to kill the wild boar.
"Ran! Your turn!"
The voice from the radio shouted as the pair who struck the spear retreated from the rampaging wild boar.
"Okay!"
A woman appeared atop the rather tall ruins of a building. At her location, she was overseeing the entire situation.
Then, the woman, Amaya Ran, tossed a copper coin into the air. As the coin fell in front of her, she stretched her arms forward with her hands forming a square between both thumbs and index fingers. It was a pose that photographers often used. At the exact time the coin passed by the center of the square, electricity began sparking around her.
THOOOM!
The coin shot from her hand towards the wild boar below, followed by a bright streak of lightning.
CRASH!
The coin and lightning hit the wild boar in the middle of its rampage. While the impact caused little to no damage due to the wild boar’s unusually tough body, the lightning began entering the wild boar’s body through the spears sticking out of its neck.
THUMP!
That loud thump was the sound of the wild boar falling down as life was snuffed out of its body.
"Nice!"
The group rejoiced while the fast man, Park Sung-Min, appeared from a hole in the ground, far behind where the wild boar fell.
"It’s dead, right?"
Kim Yong-Gyu said while cautiously tapping the spear and checking if it was fine to retrieve.
PAK!
"Ouch!"
"Don’t say something that will raise a flag!"
Kim Yong-Hwa hit her brother’s head with a frown.
"It’s dead, don’t worry."
A short, young-looking lady appeared. Her voice was the same as the one who spoke from the radio everyone was carrying.
"If Seo-Yeon said it’s dead, then it should be," Amaya Ran said as she arrived at the location. "Then, Seo-Yeon, call the others. We need to transport this."
"Roger~"
Choi Seo-Yeon took out a different radio and was about to contact their other group members.
However...
"Choi Seo-Yeon! Are you there?!"
An urgent-sounding call from a man came from the radio. But before Choi Seo-Yeon could answer, the man continued.
"The [Mountain King] is coming your direction! The other boars are also following!"
"What?" Choi Seo-Yeon shouted as everyone’s faces around her paled. "You guys should be distracting them!"
"We did!" The man on the radio replied with a huff. "But it suddenly turned around and ran away, leading the others with it! We are chasing after them to at least stop them, but these pigs are not paying attention to us anymore! We’re getting left behind!"
"This..." Amaya Ran murmured as her eyes fell on the dead wild boar. "It probably sensed one of its kin died. Quick, we need to leave this place!"
The group immediately prepared to leave. It was unfortunate that they needed to leave their hard-earned spoils behind, but their lives were more important.
RUMBLE!
The sound of dozens of large steps was heard. The ground began shaking as if there was an earthquake.
GROOOARR!!!
A loud roar echoed as the group saw trees being trampled in the distance.
"Damn it! It’s already here! Run!"
Park Sung-Min picked up Choi Seo-Yeon. Since Park Sung-Min was a rather large and tall man, it was easy for him to pick up the woman who was short in stature. He then began running as the rest followed suit.
But then, all of them shivered.
They felt killing intent.
"Sh*t! The [Mountain King] found us!"
Kim Yong-Gyu shouted.
"Don’t shout! Don’t look! Just run!"
Kim Yong-Hwa glared at her noisy brother.
Unfortunately, just like the younger of the siblings had said, the [Mountain King] had already found them.
Soon enough, the [Mountain King] was already in sight. A giant boar with a size a little smaller than the ones the group had killed. Nonetheless, it was not the size that mattered. It was because the tusks of the [Mountain King] were like steel in hardness. Its body was tough enough to fend against RPGs and explosives while only receiving scratches. More equipped and armed groups tried to take down this mutated boar but failed. If it were not this strong, it would not be able to live with its territory too near the Yeongdo Walled City.
What the group did was a gamble. With most resources near the city already exhausted, they could only try this dangerous endeavor.
Now that they also ended up in failure, they could only run for their lives.
"Huh?"
All of a sudden, Amaya Ran let out a surprised voice with her face showing confusion and shock.
"Ran? What’s wrong?"
Choi Seo-yeon, carried by Park Sung-Min, asked.
"People! Why are there people here?!"
Ran shouted, pointing to the east.
"What?"
The rest were also flabbergasted and turned to where Amaya Ran was looking.
Just like she had said, there were people there. Worse, it seemed to be a group with children.
While they were not running towards that group, it was still too close. It was not only the [Mountain King] that was chasing them. The herd might be following behind, too.
"RUN! RUN AWAY!"
Amaya Ran started shouting at the group.
But then, Amaya Ran’s eyes met with the eyes of the only man in that group. Her surroundings suddenly felt like they were slowing down. No, she actually slowed down.
BOOM!
An explosion happened behind them. It seemed that the [Mountain King] rammed through the ruined building that Amaya Ran stood earlier.
"RAN!"
Kim Yong-Hwa’s shout snapped Amaya Ran from her state. However, it was then that she noticed a large chunk of that ruin flying straight at her at a terrifying speed.
But then, the scene before her turned black.
No. Amaya Ran did not pass out.
Before her eyes, black mist appeared, as if shielding her from the incoming danger.
