Hiding a House in the Apocalypse-Chapter 99.4: The Four Axes (4)

Vrrrrrr—

The sharp hum of a drone’s flight filled the air.

This one was different from the last.

Faster. Deadlier. The speed alone carried a lethal sense of urgency.

“What the hell is that?”

“A blade-type suicide drone.”

Before the words even finished leaving his mouth—

Clang!

The netting rattled violently.

At its edge, a drone the size of a forearm, with blades resembling a knife, thrashed about like a freshly caught fish.

Bang!

A gunshot rang out. The drone exploded.

A shockwave followed, sending dust and dirt swirling inside the building.

“Damn it.”

Ha Tae-hoon spat, a glob of dust-laden spit hitting the ground.

“QBX-22. Looks like the suicide drone carrier has finally mobilized.”

“How many drones are on board?”

“It can carry up to 32 suicide drones.”

“That’s not good news.”

“This net won’t hold up forever, either.”

Ha Tae-hoon grimly examined the torn-up golf course netting, now riddled with gaping holes.

“We need to drag Bai Tou up here. Use him as ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) a shield and try to negotiate again.”

Dragging the limp form of Bai Tou upstairs, the first order of business was securing him.

You could never be too careful with a living weapon like him. There was no telling what he'd do once he woke up.

Tying his hands and feet with rope, I secured him tightly to a pillar.

“Get on the Chinese military’s common frequency. Tell them we’ve got Bai Tou.”

Ha Tae-hoon nodded and spoke into the radio in Chinese.

But there was no response.

He repeated the message, making it clear that Bai Tou was our hostage, demanding they halt the attack in exchange.

Still, no response.

That silence meant only one thing.

Ha Tae-hoon’s face hardened.

“They don’t plan on letting us go.”

“Well... we did kill a lot of them.”

Cheon Young-jae had taken down five more.

That meant 25% of their deployed forces were gone.

They weren’t some Tang Dynasty army—they had lost comrades they had fought alongside for over three years. Their thirst for vengeance wouldn’t be shallow.

Vrrrrrr—

Another blade drone zipped toward the golf course netting, poised to tear through it.

Bang!

I aimed for the sensor.

But—

Boom!

Despite my intentions, the blade drone exploded with a sharp detonation, further shredding our makeshift barrier.

I muttered under my breath, tilting my head.

“...So we have to withstand 30 more of these?”

This was bad.

Really bad.

A danger far beyond Bai Tou.

“Can’t we intercept them like before?”

“These aren’t like the recon drones. They’re smaller, quieter, and most importantly, faster. If we were in an open field, maybe, but here, with obstructed sightlines? It’ll be tough.”

One thing was clear.

Staying put meant death.

“We need to move.”

Not that moving was much safer.

If the drone operator, driven by vengeance, spotted us, they’d turn us into minced meat.

Even if we were lucky enough to shoot some down, there were still over 30 suicide drones left.

Intercepting them all was next to impossible.

“This place seems safer, though.”

Ha Tae-hoon’s exhaustion was becoming more obvious.

Crouching, he muttered,

“...I’m staying here.”

Just as I suspected—his body was reaching its limit.

“Then I’ll move on my own.”

As much as I wished otherwise, I couldn’t help him.

I was barely keeping myself alive—worrying about him was a luxury I couldn’t afford.

With a heavy heart, I was about to step away when—

“No, you don’t have to.”

It was Da-jeong.

Her voice was different.

Lower, steadier. Weighted.

She spoke again.

“It’s here.”

“What is?”

“Look up.”

Vrrrrrrr—

A low hum rumbled from the distant sky.

Ha Tae-hoon, still curled up, lifted his head.

“That sound... a propeller engine?”

Despite the danger, I moved to the window beside him and looked up.

“...What the—?”

High above, against a sky scattered with stars, something was flying.

Something massive—almost the size of a combat aircraft.

“That’s—?!”

Ha Tae-hoon’s voice rose.

“KUF-FX. Hwangjorong?!”

“A drone?”

“Yeah. A domestic UAV. Only military bases have access to those...”

Before he could finish, Da-jeong’s voice rang out, full of triumph.

“I told you! I sent out our trump card!”

A black speck glided through the dark sky like the shadow of death.

A flash of light blinked from its body.

A bright streak cut down from 5 km above, striking the city’s skyline.

A small explosion bloomed in the air.

“Bug down.”

The Chinese military’s cutting-edge drone carrier was obliterated in one shot.

The UAV banked, adjusting its course.

“So, what now? Should we wipe out the rest?”

“No, stay at high altitude. There might be MANPADS.”

“Roger. Oh, and Blood Blue is headed your way.”

“You mean Super Skelton Ho.”

“Blood Blue.”

“...Fine. I’ll set the rendezvous point. Ha Tae-hoon!”

*

Clank—

The cargo bed rattled as the vehicle moved.

Cheon Young-jae loaded a fresh magazine, raising his gun to scan the area. His eyes, glowing faintly, swept over the surroundings.

“Three zombies to the east. Not a threat.”

Above us, the black speck circled, watching over us.

“Damn. Hong Jung-ho. I knew he hoarded all sorts of junk, but I didn’t think he had something like that.”

Cheon Young-jae muttered, looking up. Ha Tae-hoon, from the driver’s seat, responded.

“He was part of the Legion faction, right? Must be their equipment. Maybe he salvaged it.”

“Even so... can you just use that stuff personally? Hwangjorong-class drones need a proper airstrip.”

“The Legion isn’t what it used to be. They couldn’t even hold Seoul.”

Ha Tae-hoon slowed the vehicle.

“This is the rendezvous point.”

I felt his gaze through the rearview mirror.

Nodding, I grabbed a radiation suit from the cargo bed.

Cheon Young-jae helped me put it on.

I stepped out, holding a Geiger counter.

In the distance, a humanoid drone stood motionless.

Super Skelton Ho.

In its right manipulator, it held a disk.

The very thing that had brought us here—and the one that would take me to Jeju.

In its other hand, it clutched two axes.

“... ...”

Those axes.

They were relics of my idol, John Nae-non.

Beep-beep-beep—

The closer I got, the more frantically the Geiger counter ticked.

It had been exposed to extreme radiation.

“Uh. Should I put them down? That’s probably best, right?”

Da-jeong asked.

“Yes. Please.”

The drone lowered the axes and the disk.

The disk was stored in a lead-lined container.

A testament to John Nae-non’s meticulous nature.

Beep-beep-beep—

The Geiger counter screamed as I neared the drone.

Using tongs, I pulled the disk closer.

Then, I turned my gaze to the axes.

“... ...”

They weren’t good axes.

They were nothing more than cheap camping hatchets from a supermarket, their stickers removed and John Nae-non’s name etched into them.

Cheap junk.

And yet—I wanted them.

Badly.

But I couldn’t take them.

Not yet.

They carried the weight of what my idol had shouldered.

“Retrieval complete.”

I turned away, leaving the axes behind.

“We should destroy the drone, too. The Chinese might salvage it.”

Raising my gun—

Suddenly, the drone moved.

Da-jeong’s doing.

With one hand, she lifted an axe, placing it atop the other.

Then, she crossed her arms—mimicking an ‘X’ with the axes.

“For John Nae-non.”

“...For John Nae-non.”

I aimed.

Bang!

Not a shot to destroy.

A salute to a hero.

*

The operation that had seemed impossible ended without a scratch.

Well, aside from the hail of bullets we faced on the way back.

But there was a change—one I could feel clearly.

The way my comrades were looking at me.

“Shit. Of course. Not just anyone gets an S-rank, huh?”

“I told you, didn’t I? Park-senpai is our mental pillar. That bastard Bai Tou? What? China’s strongest? Turns out he was just some punk.”

I laughed as I spoke to them.

“He let his guard down. That’s why I won.”

It was the truth.

From the moment he started boasting about capturing me alive, his arrogance and overconfidence were on full display.

Judging by how he reacted instantly to the thrown axes, he had likely calculated for a single projectile. But three, coming from unpredictable trajectories? That was beyond his expectations.

Bai Tou was strong.

If we met again, I would probably lose.

The same trick wouldn’t work twice.

Even so, I hadn’t killed him.

Because of that, we had bought time. And—

“Why did you let him live?”

Cheon Young-jae shot me a disapproving look.

“...He’s a hunter, isn’t he?”

It was a whim.

A form of respect, perhaps, for someone standing in a position similar to mine.

Maybe it was a sense of kinship.

Now, Bai Tou was tied up, back-to-back with Ha Tae-hoon’s inflatable doll.

I had left a blade near his feet—if he had any skill, he’d manage to escape.

But the Qinglong Dao was confiscated.

The saber now sat in the truck, tossed among drones and surveillance equipment like any other cargo.

I had no intention of using it.

It would serve as a decoration in my bunker.

Sure, I was leaving for Jeju soon.

But still, a mother wants to decorate the home she painstakingly built.

“I’m heading back now.”

Da-jeong’s voice came through.

“You worked hard, Skelton. And the rest of you, too.”

Then Defender spoke.

It was us who should be grateful.

“Thanks.”

But Defender and Da-jeong replied in unison.

“No, thank you.”

At that moment, despite myself, I smiled.

A warmth spread through the dry, battle-worn parts of my heart.

I called that feeling satisfaction.

“...”

I never expected to feel something like this on the battlefield.

“We’ll talk later.”

With Da-jeong’s final words, the transmission cut off.

We quietly made our way back to our territory.

The sun was rising.

*

“So this is the backup of that Chinese scientist’s data?”

A disk sat on the table.

It connected via a high-speed USB port.

I worried the radiation might have damaged it, but the data was intact.

Five gigabytes.

A single compressed file, lightly encrypted.

The password was written on a label stuck to the disk.

[ John_nenon ]

At the familiar name, I let out a chuckle.

“I’ve been wondering... Who the hell is John Nae-non? I think I’ve heard of him, but he didn’t seem important.”

Cheon Young-jae asked.

Ha Tae-hoon also looked curious.

I held the gaze of my comrades and thought of the man who had once shone like a beacon—now left with neither of his arms.

“He was my role model.”

I typed his name into the password field.

The compression unlocked, and research documents filled the screen.

I opened one.

“...Hmm.”

Even at a glance, the contents were dense and complex.

I looked at my companions.

“Anyone want to take a look?”

They both shook their heads.

I could always check it later.

“For now, I need a shower.”

“Me too.”

“Let’s eat and sleep after that.”

“Who’s standing watch?”

“If someone comes, they’ll just have to die. Even raiders deserve a lucky day now and then. We worked too damn hard today.”

As they headed for the showers, I logged into Viva! Apocalypse!

It had been a while.

The same old forum.

A comforting sight.

And yet, I knew.

This place alone could no longer bring me peace.

At some point, a paranoid fear had taken root in me—the fear that one of Kim Daram’s underlings would come to kill me.

Unicorn’s offer of a place in Jeju was tempting, but the truth was, I was just... exhausted.

The constant anxiety of not knowing when I might die—I wanted even a brief reprieve.

Waking up multiple times every night, living as if I were walking on fragile glass—it was suffocating.

Sure, Jeju had become a madhouse, but at least no one would barge into my home there and start shooting at me.

Three years and seven months.

That was how long I had lived in this unstable hell.

“...”

The biggest problem?

Koreans.

Wasn’t our survival ability a little too much?

Sure, we were often compared to wild grass—but this was too much.

If only we were like mint chocolate, the world I wanted might have come true...

Tap, tap, tap.

I sent a message to Unicorn.

SKELTON: I secured the data.

I expected to wait for a response.

But I was wrong.

unicorn18: What?! Seriously?! You actually got it?

Even at this late hour, they were online.

Do they even sleep?

They always responded fast.

Well, no complaints here.

SKELTON: Want me to send part of it?

unicorn18: Uh, yeah. Please.

I sent a portion of the data.

unicorn18: ...It looks legit.

SKELTON: Our deal?

unicorn18: Of course, I’ll keep my word. But you... Never mind. Maybe you’re not who I thought you were. But if you managed to get this, you must be incredible.

unicorn18: I’ll talk to the council. We’ll arrange a flight.

SKELTON: (John Nae-non) Got it.

unicorn18: ?

SKELTON: (John Nae-non) ...

unicorn18: Oh, by the way...

Updat𝓮d fr𝙤m ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com.

SKELTON: What is it?

unicorn18: Jeju... It might not be as good as you think.

unicorn18: Just keep that in mind.

“...”

A bad feeling crept over me.