Hiding a House in the Apocalypse-Chapter 73.3: The Armband (3)

"We decided to give up on Seoul, and the Legion faction withdrew from the eastern side of the city.

However, there were people who refused to leave. Seoul, being such a large city, and with so many refugees pouring in from surrounding areas, still had a considerable population. So, there were quite a few people left behind."

The unfamiliar faces that appeared in front of us, as they had already stated, were from the National Crisis Management Committee’s search team. To explain their purpose, let's hear it from Song Yoo-jin.

"There were probably at least hundreds of thousands left. Even though they were abandoned, the population was still quite significant, almost at a provincial level.

Well, after that, the cold wave hit, monsters descended, and mutated beings like the Four Heavenly Kings started roaming around, so the population rapidly decreased. But at some point, they all just vanished.

It was probably around last summer."

Song Yoo-jin looked at me with eyes shadowed by twilight.

"They sent out the search team to find out the cause. About once a month."

The man next to her, wearing glasses, added:

"Besides that, we’ve been investigating the rate of erosion around Seoul, changes in the vegetation, the number of mutations, and monster density.

In fact, if Seoul, which is practically one with Incheon, falls, Incheon will likely face the same fate."

The man’s name was Lee Ho-yeon.

Like Song Yoo-jin, he was an Awakened, at level 4.

He was the leader of the search team.

The search team consisted of seven members: four Awakened and three soldiers.

Although they were Awakened, except for one, all of them were below level 4, low-tier Awakened, which meant their basic combat abilities were insufficient, and the soldiers helped make up for this.

The soldiers didn’t wear any insignia, indicating they weren’t part of the Ministry of National Defense but the National Crisis Management Committee. They looked like seasoned veterans based on their solid builds and fierce gazes.

They found us not by their Awakened abilities, but by the campfire.

They saw the black smoke rising from the fire in broad daylight and came straight here, using their Awakened senses to pinpoint our exact location.

It was a meeting that seemed to be an unexpected yet fateful coincidence.

The atmosphere wasn’t bad.

While the soldiers were keeping their distance, the Awakened were generally friendly, probably thanks to Song Yoo-jin.

"So why did you suddenly come to Seoul?"

"Well... that’s..."

I paused for a moment, thinking about how to speak in a way that would allow me to clearly separate my identity as SKELTON from my role as a professor.

It’s true that Song Yoo-jin’s mouth is heavy.

Had she revealed to Woo Min-hee that I actually had satellite equipment, I might have disappeared long before I could dream of wearing an armband. After organizing my thoughts, I looked at her seriously and said:

"Do you know Failnet?"

"Yes, I know."

The Awakened behind us exchanged glances.

"It just exploded, didn’t it?"

"Yeah."

They were the ones who hadn’t told me their names yet.

It wasn’t that they disliked me, but being young, they seemed reluctant to connect with others.

"I’m on my way to fix Failnet."

"Fix Failnet?"

I introduced Valentine, who had been silent until then.

"He’s the current admin of Failnet. We’ve known each other for a while."

"Valentine."

"Ah, I see..."

Unlike me, Song Yoo-jin didn’t seem too pleased with Valentine, but the two friends who hadn’t told me their names were now intrigued and started asking him all sorts of questions.

While they were talking, I turned to Song Yoo-jin.

"Can I talk to the team leader for a moment?"

"The team leader? Sure, no problem. Ho-yeon team leader! Looks like Sam has something to say!"

As Song Yoo-jin called out, Lee Ho-yeon slowly approached. Then, suddenly, Song Yoo-jin leaned in close to me and whispered in my ear.

"Our team leader is suffering from depression, by the way. Just so you know."

"Depression, huh?"

Lee Ho-yeon, wearing a wry smile, stepped closer.

This guy’s pretty tall.

Maybe 187 or 188 cm?

He had a slender frame and was hunched over slightly, so I hadn’t noticed from afar, but standing close, he certainly had a commanding presence.

His attitude toward me was neutral.

He neither liked nor disliked me.

He knew I was a professor, but it seemed his impression of me wasn’t as deep as Song Yoo-jin’s.

Honestly, this is the new norm in schools.

No matter how great I was in the past or the achievements I had, my style was already considered outdated.

It was like how painters who made incredibly detailed portraits ended up out of work after the invention of the camera.

I didn’t particularly care about earning respect or being acknowledged for my past, so I simply stated my purpose.

My purpose was none other than to deal with the new monster.

Valentine showed the photo of the pale, wriggling creature, which looked like a giant maggot, to Lee Ho-yeon.

The moment he saw the photo, Lee Ho-yeon adjusted his glasses.

His expression didn’t change, but it was clear he was surprised.

"This is..."

He asked for my phone.

Once I handed it over, he zoomed in on the image of the new monster until it filled the screen and spoke.

"It’s an extinction-type."

"Extinction-type?"

The term "extinction-type" was unfamiliar to me, but I had heard it before in a live broadcast from Dongtanmom, where an anonymous user named Anonymous68 mentioned it.

Since the broadcast was automatically translated according to the board’s language, I couldn’t tell whether Anonymous68 was Korean or foreign.

I tried sending a message in English, but it was simply ignored, and the meaning of "extinction-type" remained a mystery.

But now, hearing the same term from a level 4 Awakened, I started to get an idea.

Awakened below level 5 were considered "low-tier," but level 4 was different from the others below it.

The Awakened levels were strange when you looked at them through the lens of the past, and there were some inconsistencies with their original design.

A simple breakdown of psychic ability levels might look like this:

Ordinary person <<< (unreachable fourth-dimensional wall) <<< Level 1, 2, 3 <<< (another wall) <<< Level 4 <<< Level 5-10.

Something like that.

It seemed funny to dismiss anything below level 5, but in reality, there’s a significant difference between level 2 or 3 and level 4.

So level 4 Awakened had a different status than the others below it.

It was like being in the middle class during the Joseon Dynasty.

"These new monsters were found in places already dominated by monsters, like China, India, and Africa."

Therefore, the words coming from him carried more weight.

Unless you were in one of the higher circles, the higher the Awakened’s level, the more respect they got in the National Crisis Management Committee.

"This one’s different from the monsters we've seen so far. Whereas previous monsters showed hostility towards humans as an act of aggression, this extinction-type clearly recognizes humans as enemies and actively seeks to attack them."

"So, you're saying the monsters have truly become humanity’s enemies."

It was shocking, but I wasn’t that surprised.

It felt like I had subconsciously expected it.

As the dimensional rifts opened and humanity began its struggle, each year new species appeared, progressively pushing humanity into a corner, evolving into even more dangerous forms.

This was just my guess, but perhaps the true enemy isn’t the monsters, but the world beyond the rift itself?

Like the human immune system, perhaps.

The "infinity" I saw beyond the rift wasn’t just a numerical expression of abundance.

Beyond that grim horizon, countless pale monsters were being formed.

They were being "created" without factories or workers, like intangible ashes settling down by themselves.

"This one can probably act outside the erosion zone, like the smaller breeds?"

"No. They’re mostly found inside the fully eroded zones, but this is the first time one has been found outside an erosion zone like Seoul."

"How do we deal with it?"

"Are you going to fight it?"

Lee Ho-yeon gave me a slightly dubious look.

For an Awakened who could kill with their will, it was a valid question.

"If necessary."

"Unfortunately, there’s not much data on this new type. They’ve always been found in fully eroded zones, so drones and satellites are useless in such areas."

Lee Ho-yeon bowed to me.

"Anyway, thanks to you, we’ve gained some valuable data. Finding an extinction-type outside an erosion zone... this may be the best result since I took over the search team."

It was clear that hunters of this era were fundamentally different from those of our time.

At least we didn’t settle for just discovering a new species—we tried to kill it and make a name for ourselves.

Thanks to our reckless ambition, many comrades died, but their sacrifices helped gather minimal data and saved the lives of those who would fight the next monster.

But these new friends seem to consider the discovery itself their greatest achievement.

Leaving Lee Ho-yeon behind, I approached Song Yoo-jin.

"Will you keep up the search team activities?"

"Yes, we don’t have anything else to do. It’s cold outside, and even if we stay in Incheon, it’s useless... I’d rather go back to Jeju. Can’t you pull some strings with your connections?"

"If I had connections, I’d have gone first."

I had understood the situation.

What I had to do was clear.

Fixing Failnet was important, but killing that new monster was my real task.

Although I had been out of the field for a long time, the burning hatred I held for monsters hadn’t dulled. More importantly, dealing with the new species was my role as a professor.

"I have a favor to ask."

"What kind of favor?"

"You know Viva! Apocalypse!, right?"

"Yes."

"If there’s anyone in Incheon who can get in touch with M9, tell them to ask that guy if he’s seen anything like a white maggot-looking creature."

People often say that I managed to defeat so many new species first because of my superhuman judgment, leadership, and combat abilities.

The truth is far simpler.

I’ve always gathered information.

I collected statements from defeated soldiers, civilians, and sometimes even imprisoned criminals in areas where new species appeared. At times, I even had to sift through decaying bodies, left in a state too horrific to describe, to deduce the attacking methods of these new creatures.

I won’t deny that I left some Chinese survivors to die in order to gather data.

With those small pieces of the puzzle, I repeatedly defeated new types.

Our team’s combat power and legendary teamwork came after that.

M9 has been a fixture in Seoul even after everyone left.

Honestly, we’re not on the best of terms, but I have to admit that he’s become more famous than me now.

"M9? Oh! The guy who lives in that tilted apartment?"

"You know him?"

"Who doesn’t know him? The Hope Cliffhanger guy."

"...That guy’s probably been living in Seoul all this time. He might have seen that new species. So, I’m asking you to contact Incheon and probe him about it."

"Wait a second."

Song Yoo-jin pulled out her K-WalkerTalk and started fiddling with the keypad.

What’s she doing? As I watched, she was entering a personal identification number.

Personal Identification Number: CLIFF_HANGER.

"What’s that?"

"Ah, it’s his personal identification number."

"What?! That guy?"

"Do you know him?"

"No. Not really."

"Well, honestly, now he’s... like a living cultural asset! That’s the kind of vibe he gives off, you know? His apartment is also called ‘The Hope,’ right? So, he’s been getting a lot of support from here and there."

"...I see."

I didn’t not understand, but something about this felt off.

As a doomsday theorist, my pride in my philosophy was starting to crumble.

It’s like he’s proving that surviving in a zoo-style setup is possible, which wasn’t what I thought survival was about.

Sure, it might not be a survival method built on thinking things through, but purely by luck, M9’s method is undeniably impressive.

Especially in how he’s earned the fair favor of humanity, the greatest threat.

M9 responded to the call.

"Captain M9 speaking!"

Hearing that, I lost my composure and blurted out without thinking:

"Shut up."

"Sam?!"

I quickly shut my mouth and signaled to Song Yoo-jin to communicate with him using the school's codes.

With a somewhat reluctant look, Song Yoo-jin asked M9 what I wanted.

"I think someone just said shut up..."

"Oh, I was talking about Jurassic stuff next to him."

"Hmmm..."

Song Yoo-jin requested information about the extinction-type monster.

I had a hunch.

The tilted apartment would offer a better view of things down below.

"Ah, the one that looks like a maggot?"

Sure enough, M9 knew the monster we were talking about.

"That thing’s pretty fast, but it can’t climb slopes well. One time, it chased me all the way to the elevator corridor, but then it slipped there. It fell and I haven’t seen it since. The little bastard got stuck."

(‘Slipped’ means the floor was made slippery.)

It seems like it survived despite being attacked.

"..."

When I first saw M9, I thought he was missing a few screws, but living in that tilted place, it looks like he’s leveled up.

I asked a few more questions through Song Yoo-jin.

Whether he had fired shots or if there were any special abilities.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the specific information I wanted, but I did gather a few details worth noting.

The most important piece of information:

The extinction-type doesn’t cause waves.

Waves are precursors to a variety of miracles, like the reflective energy fields caused by monsters.

They signify an explosion of psychic energy.

The fact that there were no waves means this creature isn’t as formidable as it seemed.

Even in Dongtanmom’s live broadcast, the creatures didn’t cause waves and moved alongside zombies.

"..."

Maybe this new species isn’t as strong as we think.

We won’t know its exact specs until we face it, but for now...

"Thanks, Yoo-jin."

"It’s nothing, Sam. It wasn’t that important."

"Then we’ll head toward Seoul to fix Failnet."

"What? You’re going to Seoul after seeing the new species?"

Song Yoo-jin looked at me, surprised.

"Are you serious?!"

After thinking for a moment, I realized that I hadn’t really taught my disciple much.

I had just recited some textbook material, void of any soul.

This content is taken from fгeewebnovёl.com.

Still, if she’s following me this much, I should at least teach her something.

Looking at her with eyes holding a subtle glow, I calmly added, layering her image with that of the innocent middle schooler she once was.

"Discovering a new species isn’t enough of a reason to stop the mission."

"?".

"If I avoid it, someone else will face that new species without knowing. Like you and your team. You know how dangerous it is to face an unknown new monster without any information, right?"

"...Yeah."

"A hunter needs to have this basic mindset: that I am better than anyone else."

"Sam..."

I smiled at her softly.

"And I’m a professor."