Apocalypse Shelter Administrator-Chapter 76: Fight Club

Fight Club

Just as work assignments were nearly finished, an unexpected event occurred.

"A duel?"

[Yes, sir!]

Kiz’s avatar, dressed in a black referee uniform, saluted. The whistle hanging from her neck swayed with her sharp movements.

According to the report she submitted, friction between some factions had escalated, almost leading to a full-blown brawl. However, just before the fight broke out, they caught a glimpse of the CCTV watching them, and the confrontation fizzled out.

In prison, if a brawl breaks out, those involved are thrown into solitary confinement for about a week. Moreover, everyone is aware that a shelter is far scarier than any regular prison.

Even though non-lethal rounds are used, they don't hesitate to shoot at inmates, and places where you're struck with a rifle butt without a second thought are rare even in third-world prisons. Furthermore, all the leaders of these factions had already left, making it impossible for a fight to even occur.

To hold such a position requires a certain level of skill, and these individuals had all scored well on their aptitude tests and thus entered their "veteran soldier" mode. If even a slight conflict seemed to arise between residents, they immediately removed themselves from the situation as if dodging falling leaves. They didn’t want to get entangled in trouble and end up penalized.

Still, since the underlying conflicts remained unresolved, tension built up and people became increasingly tired of the constant friction. In the end, they asked Kiz, the living manager, to mediate, and she gladly accepted and rushed straight to me.

"So, this is your mediation proposal?"

I gave a wry smile and looked at Kiz.

[Even if you try to talk them down, the moment they lock eyes, they'll be growling and ready to fight. You can tell just by looking at their eyes. Don’t they look like a bunch of raging beasts?]

Kiz made a growling noise and struck a pose like a red panda. Despite her cute display, I instinctively patted her holographic head.

[Kya~!]

She squealed in delight.

The report included still images of the two gangs, just moments before they stopped their fight.

Look at those eyes, glaring at each other. Filled with venom. I’d seen that look before during my time in the military.

“Don’t talk down to me. Call me Sergeant Kim.”

“A sergeant with the nerve to snap at an officer just because I didn’t salute first, huh?”

For example, between a sergeant and a lieutenant entering a battle of nerves.

“I did salute!”

“That looked more like adjusting your cap than a salute.”

“Don’t talk down to me.”

“I wasn’t talking down.”

A captain pretending not to use informal speech while a veteran sergeant refused to back down. It was truly a nerve-wracking battle that made my heart swell with pride. Such incidents were rare in domestic units, but during overseas deployments, where even half-forgotten regulations were strictly enforced, these types of disputes happened more frequently.

The drawn-out conflict lasted a full year, until the captain was promoted to major, abruptly ending the standoff. The venom they had been shooting at each other reminded me of the hostility I sensed from those women in the shelter.

"Sure, mediation won’t fix this."

[Right? These things only resolve when you either beat them senseless or get beaten until they submit. The former relieves stress, the latter crushes their spirits. It’s not exactly a gentlemanly approach, but if they were gentlemen, they wouldn’t be here in our city in the first place. Violence will break out eventually.]

Kiz nodded with her eyes closed, arms crossed.

[So why not provide a legal arena for them to settle their differences? The loser keeps quiet, and we offer a prize for the winner. It could also provide entertainment for the shelter's residents, who are bored out of their minds!]

Prisoners fighting each other isn’t unusual; it’s as natural as breathing. Guards sometimes allow it to happen on purpose, considering it a necessary evil.

No matter how sturdy a container is, when the pressure builds beyond its limits, it’ll explode. At the right moment, you need to release some pressure, and one way to do that is by allowing fights between inmates. The fighters get their stress out, and the spectators enjoy a show.

When prisoners surround and cheer during a fight in movies or TV shows, it's not for nothing. In a way, it’s like the reappearance of the ancient Roman Colosseum. Since these are barbaric people, they’re reviving the lifestyle of ancient barbarism.

By the way, there’s another method to relieve this pressure besides fighting. It’s the existence of contraband within the prison. These are individuals connected to suppliers who bring in goods, which technically are banned.

Alcohol and cigarettes, for example. Playing cards or dice for gambling. Various magazines. These are common items, and if caught, they’re merely confiscated, and penalties are minor. However, smuggling in a phone to contact family or a weapon can land you in solitary confinement without exception. If you’re unlucky, you might even get extra years added to your sentence.

In poorly managed prisons, drugs might make their way in. In completely corrupt places, like those in South America, even people are smuggled in and out—prostitutes, to be precise. Prison guards know about the existence of these black markets, but they turn a blind eye as a form of flexibility to maintain control.

Fights and contraband from the outside. These two things act as a kind of refreshment in the otherwise hellish life of imprisonment.

But this is a shelter. A place with a perfect surveillance system, where the outside world has been wiped out, and we receive no supplies.

I plan to officially support recreational and cultural activities here soon, but there’s still some time before that happens. In the meantime, the frequency of disputes will only increase.

"Do the parties involved agree to this?"

[Of course! They were practically begging for permission. It seems they’ve been waiting for a chance like this for a while. They’ve already chosen their representatives for the ring!]

One is Nina, and the other is a Chinese woman I’ve never seen before. While Nina has the body of a fitness model—slim and toned—the Chinese woman with a ponytail looks like a weightlifter. They apparently had bad blood since their time at the offshore prison, and they’ve clashed multiple times even here in the shelter.

Kiz played a few videos.

The first video showed the Chinese woman kicking Nina in the back as she descended the stairs. It was a pretty dangerous sneak attack, but Nina executed a perfect roll, flipping twice before springing back up. Her movements were as agile as a cat, but her face was that of a roaring lioness. Had it not been for bystanders stepping in, it could’ve been a deadly fight.

The second video showed Nina getting her revenge. It was during meal time, when the prison is at its loudest. The Chinese woman and her group were returning their trays. She was poking around in her mouth with her finger, complaining loudly in Chinese. The subtitles translated her grumbles about the food and how she missed the flavors from her homeland.

"Have they gotten spoiled from us feeding and housing them?"

Just as that thought crossed my mind… The sound of rapid footsteps filled the video, and everyone turned to look. From the right side of the screen, Nina appeared, airborne.

Her Hectopascal Kick—made famous as an internet meme in Korea—was reborn decades later. With the full force of her weight behind the flying kick, the large Chinese woman tumbled and collapsed, clearly having taken a severe hit.

Her gang just stood there, dumbfounded, while Nina calmly clasped her hands behind her head and walked away.

"She's definitely a woman who can't survive without taking a hit."

The way she casually disappeared with a refreshed expression was so absurd that it was almost attractive.

There were several more videos of the two women in a battle of nerves. However, by that time, the job aptitude test had already taken place. It seemed like they both retained enough reason to limit their exchange to insults without escalating to a physical confrontation.

[What do you think? Wouldn't it be interesting if the two of them faced off in the ring? The residents are really curious about it too. They've been rivals for a long time.]

I alternated between the profiles of the two women who volunteered for the duel. Through editing, Kiz had turned it into something like a boxing match poster. The two women, wearing crop tops that exposed their navels and armpits, and extremely short shorts, stood in fighting stances with their fists raised.

Nina looked so sexy that it felt like a photo shoot with a fighter concept. Her abs were vertically defined, and her limbs were tightly corded like ropes. In contrast, she had fair skin and a full chest. Her sharp nose and doll-like face made one wonder how she managed to maintain such features while practicing Muay Thai. She exuded a wild beauty, different from the "perfect beauty" of Chloro and Rose’s body.

On the other hand, the Chinese woman’s appearance was intimidating. Her limbs were thick, and her head was almost twice the size of Nina's. However, this didn’t mean she looked fat or sluggish. She had the kind of naturally strong physique you’d see in a Mongolian wrestler. Even among all the residents, the number of people who could face her in a fight could be counted on one hand. She gave off the kind of force that could knock someone like Seyoung out with a single flick.

Nina and the Chinese woman. If you gender-swapped Achilles and Goliath from myth and took a title match photo, wouldn’t it look something like this?

"So those two are going to fight?"

[Yes.]

"And the location?"

[There’s an event hall in the lower area. With a little modification, we can make it look like a boxing ring. It can hold up to 500 spectators for now.]

Modifying the space wouldn’t be difficult. Even before the outbreak, illegal fight clubs were occasionally held there. When VIPs visited under the guise of inspecting construction, I would formally guide them through the shelter and end the tour at this spot. From start to finish, the tour was always my responsibility.

For some reason, the higher-ups in the shelter took quite a liking to me. I constantly brought up expensive demands and often rebelled against orders to ‘just do it,' but they liked me anyway.

At first, they tried hiring charming, attractive women to do the tours. Since I was reporting on construction progress every week, detailed knowledge of the construction wasn’t really necessary for the tour.

Wouldn’t it be better to have a woman guide them instead of some rough-looking guy?

They hired women with a lot of experience in dealing with demanding, rich men—former first-class flight attendants and women from the nightlife industry who only catered to the elite. But all of them came running back to me, terrified, in less than two hours. Even when I asked what had happened, they just shook their heads with tear-streaked faces, refusing to speak.

One of them even came to me with stockings soaked in urine from the crotch down. Who knows what those men did to her. But when I went and said, ‘I apologize,' and took over the tour, they'd laugh and greet me.

"Everyone will be happy if you handle them the way they want," I thought, recalling a phrase I’d heard somewhere long ago, as I signed the duel authorization form.

[A wise choice! You’re in for a treat! It’s going to be an incredible match!]

Kiz waved her little fists up and down enthusiastically. Her 3-heads-tall hologram face even changed to a >_< expression. fгeewebnovёl.com

"Looks like you're more excited than I am."

Kiz laughed quietly while shaking her hands.

[No way.]

As she laughed and shook her head, I couldn’t help but notice there was always something unsettling about her smile. It was only cute because I was confident that unsettling feeling wasn’t directed at me.

"When’s the match?"

[If you approve now, we can hold it by tomorrow morning!]

"Make sure safety measures are in place. Have the medical team on standby too."

[Of course!]

I waved my hand up and down to show I trusted her to do a good job. Then I suddenly got curious.

"Who do you think will win?"

Of course, I was more inclined towards Nina. Both in terms of her looks and nationality.

[Well, since you’re betting on Nina, wouldn’t it be fair for me to bet on the other side? It would be sad if both of us bet on Nina and the other one got left out.]

Despite her words, there wasn’t even a gram of sympathy on Kiz’s face. It was the face of a child gleefully watching two insects fight after placing them head-to-head. A face full of innocent sadism, contrasted with eyes full of wisdom.

The coexistence of those two opposing traits made her expression even more eerie.