Hiding a House in the Apocalypse-Chapter 127: Constellations
It’s been four years since the war began.
Amid countless episodes, we have now formed a proper group.
As winter approaches, I think it’s not a bad idea to reevaluate the strength of our territory once.
Currently, there are ten people in our group.
Of these, only five — me, Cheon Yeong-jae, Ha Tae-hoon, Bang Jae-hyeok, and Defender — are combatants who can actively engage in battle.
By direct combat, I mean including large monster battles, active and offensive fights.
Rebecca and her daughter could be included as combatants, but I plan to use them only as reconnaissance and defense personnel.
Hong Da-jeong is a special case.
As a professional drone pilot, her individual combat ability is too weak to be counted as a combatant, but she holds more value in various tasks using drones than many ordinary combatants.
The rest, Ballantine and Bang Jae-hyeok’s mother, are non-combatants.
Ballantine can engage in limited combat, but I have no intention of sending him into battle unless absolutely necessary.
He’s a valuable resource.
He’s the only person who can help achieve our immediate goal of a second PaleNet.
Bang Jae-hyeok’s mother has no combat abilities, but she’s diligent and skilled with her hands, making her a valuable resource, especially in the more domestic aspects.
Moreover, losing her could have a major impact on the mental state of Bang Jae-hyeok, a skilled combatant, so I plan to send her and Ballantine deep into the shelter during combat situations.
With these 10 people, our resources aren’t lacking.
Ammunition, food, fuel, medical supplies, vehicles, and other consumables.
We had plenty to start with, and the supplies brought by the others who joined have also added significantly to our stock.
There’s nothing particularly lacking.
Of course, medical supplies could run out quickly.
A few battles with many casualties would deplete them.
Ammunition would last a little longer, but if we keep fighting often, it’ll disappear just like medical supplies.
The most threatening enemy to our group is, of course, humans.
I’ve always viewed humans as the greatest threat, and that belief hasn’t changed now that we’ve formed a group.
In fact, the threat of humans has grown since we formed a group. The risk of encountering them is higher than when I was a lone survivalist.
The stability of this organization is what allows me to dream of secondary goals like a second PaleNet or the invasion of the Jeju Intranet.
Personally, the greatest advantage of our group is that there’s no one around us.
That means there are no threatening forces nearby.
Human interaction does offer great benefits to both parties, but in a time like this, when everything is scarce and uncertain, having another group nearby is uncomfortable.
They could turn into enemies at any moment, and with limited resources, you’d have to watch your back, wasting unnecessary time and energy.
Of course, it’s a different story if you can trust that outside group enough, but how do you build that trust?
Building it from zero is an incredibly difficult task.
Blood relations, academic ties, and regional connections.
At least a traditional link would give us something to work with.
If we expand the scope to the region, we can confirm one group.
To the east, on the distant mountain ridge, there’s a group made up of elderly people. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
It’s not possible to communicate with them, but since they won’t come down the mountain, they’re not a major concern.
Looking at our territory’s defensive capabilities, it has become far stronger than when I chose individual survival.
The entire territory has been fortified around the outer walls.
We’ve reinforced the steep ridges to the north, so we won’t be caught off guard by a sudden ambush.
However, there’s no defense against artillery, the queen of war.
If someone targets coordinates and fires, you have to take the hit.
Most of our bunkers could withstand the artillery, but Rebecca’s hut, Ha Tae-hoon’s house, and auxiliary facilities like the bathrooms and showers are vulnerable.
If the shelling is intense, even my bunker might malfunction.
The good news, though, is that no force left today could launch large-scale artillery attacks just to target a bunker.
We won’t be bombarded like Chairman Park Cheol-joo, who became the Legion’s entertainment.
But even in our territory, there are weaknesses.
It’s the bonds between the members of the group.
There are three factions: the Incheon Hunters, the Defender siblings, and Rebecca and her daughter.
These factions form the group through me as the center, but on the flip side, without me, they are just strangers with no interest or connection to each other.
If I were to die or disappear in an unexpected accident, there’s a high probability that our group would scatter.
Defender and Rebecca have places to go.
They each have old bases in the area.
If the group’s conflicts reach an extreme, they will go to the places that are more comfortable for them.
Clearly, uniting these disparate people isn’t easy.
Even if I forcefully try to create unity, will they really get along?
This is not a rough society where you become friends after sharing a drink.
Trust is something that builds up slowly through time and events.
I won’t force people to get along.
If there’s conflict, I’ll leave it unresolved for now.
The resolution is up to each person.
What I can do is to make sure the conflict doesn’t escalate to extremes.
Fortunately, our territory is large, and personal living spaces are separate, so there’s not much friction between these disparate groups.
If the number of people increases here, I’m not sure.
Can we handle more?
The necessary addition would be a doctor.
If we could get an engineer of Ballantine’s caliber, I’d make room, even if it was a stretch.
But as we’ve seen in past events, newcomers come without warning and from unexpected sources.
What if someone I know well, someone who shares a piece of the past with me, entrusted their life to me?
I’m thinking of the Kim Da-ram family, and my student Song Yu-jin, whose whereabouts are currently unknown.
Maybe I’ll accept the connections from our Viva! Apocalypse! group.
Expanding such a group often leads to its collapse, as seen in other cases.
When the group reaches saturation, you have to reject new additions.
In the past, when I was known as Professor, this wouldn’t have been difficult at all.
But now... I’m not so sure.
Am I weaker, or have I changed?
I don’t think I’ve simply become weaker.
It’s the age of loss.
Not just for people and material things.
Everything we know — lives, property, values, and even memories — is blurring away.
To maintain humanity in such a place, you have to be more human than anyone else.
“SKELTON. What are you thinking alone?”
As dusk approached, Suе, still carrying a gun that seemed larger than her body, climbed up to the lookout post on the hill.
“Is it your turn to keep watch today?”
“No, it’s Mom’s turn.”
“Then why are you up here?”
“Mom’s in Ballantine’s shelter right now.”
“Again?”
“Yeah, really. Mr. Ballantine, you can see he doesn’t like us. Mom should be a little bolder.”
“You can’t disturb Mr. Ballantine.”
“Sorry.”
“No, there’s nothing to apologize for.”
She seemed to have been thinking for quite a while.
In fact, this was something that needed to be done once.
Assessing the strengths, weaknesses, and issues of the group.
If it were in the past, I would have done a power assessment as soon as the group was formed.
I’d have ruthlessly cut unnecessary personnel without hesitation.
Maybe the past ruthlessness delayed the evaluation of the group.
“How’s it here?”
I asked as I felt the wind, which had absorbed the day’s heat, brush past us with the coolness of autumn.
“It’s not bad.”
Suе answered while looking at the faint light in the distance.
“Hm... is that so?”
“No, I didn’t mean it badly. It’s okay. Really, it’s okay. But...”
“Is it because of the others?”
I asked, looking at Suе.
She looked at me for a moment, then smiled and nodded.
She then quickly looked away again and stared at the distant light.
That light was probably from a refugee camp far away, living at a distance we couldn’t even comprehend.
It will probably disappear soon.
“······That was the case there too. People were the hardest part. Truly.”
“It's like that everywhere.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. There might be places that are different, though.”
I reflect on the life I’ve lived.
“Those places must either be too difficult or dangerous to think about anything else. Or maybe the time spent interacting with those difficult people is too short.”
“There’s no easy place in the world, huh?”
That might be true.
In most of life, human relationships are a never-ending tangle that can never be untied.
Like Alexander, you might be able to cut it off in one stroke, but you could also meet a bad end like that king.
But, you know...
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
Is it really necessary to untangle that tightly knotted thread?
“Exactly.”
“I see.”
Suе lowered her head and sighed.
She’s much more mature than Rebecca, so she didn’t openly show her dislike for the people in our territory as Rebecca did, but it was clear Suе didn’t get along with them much.
After all, they’re ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) strangers. People she’s never seen, whose races, countries, languages, and entire circumstances are different from hers.
It’s not an easy thing to suddenly become close, even if you’re pure and young at heart.
“But there’s no need to be discouraged.”
Suе raised her head.
She gazed at the faint light she had been looking at before.
The light flickered for a moment before disappearing.
Was she trying to enforce a curfew?
If she doesn’t want to attract the attention of any attackers, it’s something she’d have to do.
Above that disappearing light, numerous stars, less visible but more majestic, filled the sky.
The stars each have their own claim.
“All the stars have their place.”
Humans can’t become stars, but on this vast canvas called Earth, each of us can claim to be a star, and that’s not a completely wrong metaphor.
According to scientists, birth and death are the same fate for stars.
The only difference is in timing, form, and beauty.
“All those stars are shining from their place, right?”
I pointed at the stars.
Suе’s gaze followed my finger.
“Summer Triangle?”
I nodded.
“Yeah. They form a constellation.”
We can’t all be stars.
But I hope that our group can shine and respect each other’s domains, just like a constellation.
“SKELTON.”
Suе, sitting next to me while staring at the stars, spoke.
“Yeah?”
“I’ve heard that starlight is the fading light from stars that died millions of years ago.”
I smiled faintly.
“Maybe that’s what makes it more beautiful?”
Suе stared at me with an unreadable expression, then sighed and stood up.
“I’m going to stand guard now. Go back, SKELTON.”
“Okay.”
I left her behind and went down the hill.
Her figure, standing guard under the starlight that seemed ready to pour down, will likely stay in my memory for a long time.
In a good way.
Wishing for our constellation to be complete, I walked down the steps.
*
The latest news about the Ji Chang-sоо family came a week after the sudden end of Emgu’s live broadcast.
mmmmmmmmm™: New tenants have entered next door.jpg
The photo showed a woman and a middle-aged man struggling to climb a dangerously slanted hallway, barely managing to ascend using a single rope.
As I watched them, their faces strained and their teeth clenched as they climbed, I couldn’t help but lightly tap my forehead and chuckle.
But the story behind this was far from lighthearted.
34 people entered the government’s treasure vault.
One minute later, only seven were able to make it out.
The groans of the wounded leaked through the gap, but the only thing they could do for the injured was end their suffering.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Emgu recalled that there were exactly four gunshots.
But we know.
Though the groans that echoed in front of the underground parking lot may have disappeared, the story of Emgu and, in some ways, of The Hope, which became one with him, is just beginning.
Emgu knew what was coming.
mmmmmmmmm™: It's a little late, but I'll show the semi-unboxing video.
Emgu sent a small drone into the vault, revealing to us the massive treasures hidden in the vast areas connected by tracks.
The quantity of goods and equipment shown in the photos was beyond imagination.
Just as expected.
It was enough to sustain hundreds of thousands of lives.
mmmmmmmmm™: We’ve given up. So, anyone can come. Come and take it. We won’t stop you.
People will gather at The Hope.
The hopeless, those who have lost hope, will come together, heading toward the slanted apartment to find hope.
At least, I knew I wouldn’t be among them.
I have a fair amount of supplies and a safe shelter.
But one photo Emgu shared moved me.
“That one might be useful.”
Beyond a killing zone filled with sentry guns, murder drones, and other deadly machines that slaughter humans like a factory, a vehicle caught our attention.
