Chapter 85
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: Welcome to Shelter Apocalypse
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Rattling around in the truck, Yun stared at Park Si-hyun with a complicated expression. He wasn't even glancing their way, just fiddling endlessly with the toy gun.
No matter how she thought about it, it seemed like he wasn't on guard against them at all—he wasn't even considering them.
Even though she had a pistol holstered at her waist, pointed right at him, and could kill him with a single pull of the trigger.
...Of course, she had no intention of doing that. She knew full well that the moment she did, she'd be met with a hail of bullets from the survivors in the truck behind them.
She was just a little miffed. It felt like he was treating them as if they were nothing. Well, being nothing wasn't entirely wrong...
'But where the hell is he taking us?'
The condition Park Si-hyun had offered was to take in the survivors of Shelter E as residents of their own shelter. Naturally, Yun had politely refused.
Shelter Apocalypse? She'd never even heard of it. And she had no idea if Shelter Apocalypse was pulling the same dirty tricks as the Salvation Church.
For all she knew, he might be dragging them off to use as lab rats.
But he had insisted that their shelter had facilities incomparable to Shelter C, and that they'd regret not coming.
And that this was the final condition he could offer.
Yun had figured his claim that it was incomparable to Shelter C was a lie, but in the end, she'd accepted.
Better to entrust themselves to even a sliver of possibility than fight these tough-looking guys and die like dogs.
And so, they had boarded the trucks and were now heading to Shelter Apocalypse.
'Please, just say something.'
In the awkward silence, the other survivors were all staring at her. They wanted her, who had stepped forward, to do something.
And as always, she, the leader, had to do something. In the end, she resolved to speak to Park Si-hyun. But what to say?
Ask if Shelter Apocalypse was a good place? No, he'd probably just say yes. Then what? Ask if it had ties to the Salvation Church?
No, what if it did? Wouldn't that just provoke them into attacking? Her thoughts spiraled.
Finally, she opened her mouth.
"How is Shelter Apocalypse so abundant?"
She'd just blurted out the first thing that came to mind. Park Si-hyun, still toying with the plasma gun, shrugged casually.
"You'll see when we get there."
What did 'you'll see' even mean? Was it some method he couldn't talk about, like supplementing food with human flesh like the Salvation Church?
No matter how she racked her brain, the idea of 'abundance' in this apocalypse was beyond her common sense.
Just then, Park Si-hyun set down the toy gun and suddenly grabbed a shotgun at blinding speed.
Staring blankly, Yun realized with a start and drew her pistol to protect them—or shoot him. Was this his true colors finally showing?
But the barrel of his gun pointed not at them, but behind the truck, into the pitch-black darkness. Under the dim streetlight glow, she spotted something dark red moving.
When Yun realized what the dark red thing was, her face drained of color. It was a Chaser—the very monster that had doomed Shelter E.
Whether she panicked or not, his gun barrel spat fire. He didn't have Zixuan's accuracy buff, but his shots precisely hit the Chaser's legs.
The Chaser, legs shot out, tumbled to the ground. Only then did the residents spot it and unleash a barrage. Bang! Bang! Bang! Even a Chaser couldn't survive that bullet storm.
In the end, the Chaser's body slumped.
"...How did you know?"
"Just felt it."
What the hell had he felt?
She lowered her pistol and sat quietly. Hic. She couldn't bring herself to say more, starting to hiccup. Afraid that one wrong word might get them showered in bullets like the Chaser.
Meanwhile, Park Si-hyun was lost in thought.
'Could I combine this plasma gun into a heavy plasma gun?'
A non-Gunner like him couldn't wield a regular plasma gun, let alone a beginner one. But an android robot was different.
Androids weren't picky about weapons, so it could use a plasma gun. Sure, the efficiency would be lower than a Gunner's...
Gunners needed level 50 to use it anyway. And in Team Apocalypse, only two Gunners remained, none at level 50.
He himself was only level 41.
'Even if I make a heavy plasma gun, without plasma supply, it'd only fire a few shots...'
Those few shots could be an absolute trump card in the early-to-mid scenarios. Worth researching.
As he pondered, they arrived at the docked cruise ship.
"That's..."
"Shelter Apocalypse is on the island."
Of course, it had been a peninsula just days ago. He didn't bother explaining. He quickly loaded the survivors onto the ship.
The cruise ship slowly chugged toward the island. Yun gazed at it tensely. If the shelter was truly on an island as he said, zombies wouldn't be a threat.
But as far as she knew, that island was an industrial zone. No way an industrial zone could be abundant. So she thought...
Upon arrival, her mind did a complete 180. The first thing she saw were fields. Sprouts of what looked like crops everywhere.
Staring blankly, Park Si-hyun tossed casually to Yun.
"Oh, we haven't expanded the shelter long. Shelter Apocalypse is further in. Jason will guide you to your temporary quarters. Jason."
"Yes, Leader!"
"Sorry to keep asking, but please."
Eyes weary but hiding it, Jason bowed. As Park Si-hyun left, he turned to Yun.
"I'll say it upfront. Your affiliations? They don't matter in Shelter Apocalypse."
"...I figured."
"In Shelter Apocalypse, we don't divide people by affiliations. And the Leader and Angel's orders are absolute."
"Angel? Are you some religious group?"
Leader was one thing, but 'Angel' was weird. She suspected they—and Shelter Apocalypse—might be a cult like the Salvation Church.
"Who knows. Religious group? We don't believe in such outdated gods. Our Angel shows us miracles directly."
That's what he was told to say. Jason recited the words he'd heard from Yuna days ago. Effective for proselytizing new residents, or so.
Still, it wasn't wrong. To them, the Leader and Zixuan were gods. Far beyond any old deities.
Unaware of this, Yun only grew more uneasy.
Regardless of her thoughts, Jason led Yun and the Shelter E survivors to their lodging. Glimpsing the shelter interior en route, Yun's face filled with disbelief.
'That's a sentry gun? And an android robot...'
Sentry guns and android robots—military-grade—were patrolling. Reading her gaze, Jason shrugged.
"We are protected by machines."
Vast fields, sentry guns, android robots.
"Impressive. How was a place like this even built?"
A shelter like this would've been famous. Yet she'd heard nothing of Shelter Apocalypse.
"Truth is, it's only been three months since it was built. I joined midway, so I don't know details, but it was tiny compared to now."
"How..."
Her common sense shattered multiple times today.
"You'll come to understand naturally under the Leader. Here we are."
Their destination was houses. Converted factory warehouses, spacious enough for all. Not one room per person, but one house per person.
Far from ordinary. The interiors were, if exaggerated a bit, no different from pre-apocalypse hotels. No shortages at all.
Seeing water flow from the bathroom faucet, Yun nearly teared up.
"Water... water's coming out?"
In Shelter E, drainage had failed long ago. Water ran brown or cut out constantly. She'd scavenged for drinking water.
But here, clean-looking water flowed from the tap.
Her awe didn't stop there. Hot water. Hot water? She couldn't fathom how such a miracle was possible.
"You look thrilled, Yun?"
A blonde woman spoke from behind.
"You're... Sophia?"
Sophia, who had stayed in Shelter E after Shelter D's fall until following the Paradise group, was here. They'd been somewhat acquainted.
She'd heard Shelter D stories from her often.
"You said Shelter D fell... You never mentioned a shelter like this."
Sophia hadn't breathed a word about Shelter Apocalypse to her. Afraid it might burden it.
She replied innocently.
"You never asked."
"...Can you tell me the truth about this shelter? For our friendship."
Sophia shrugged.
"Our friendship... Questionable if it exists. But it's just as you've seen and felt. Wise Leader, safe shelter, abundant supplies... Paradise, right?"
Yun nodded unwittingly.
"What do we have to do to stay in this paradise?"
"Offer our bodies to that man—no, the Leader?"
"No, in Shelter Apocalypse, non-consensual sex is strictly forbidden. Even for the Leader."
Of course, if Park Si-hyun wanted, he could make exceptions. Or how many women would refuse if he did?
But she knew he wouldn't. He had Zixuan, and seemed uninterested in other women.
-Si-hyun's a brick wall even to me. Really bruises the ego.
She recalled Emily, Shelter A's watchwoman, grumbling.
"Then what do we provide?"
"What you provide... Work the fields for set hours daily. The rest is free time, up to you."
"This... makes sense?"
Labor provision.
Like pre-apocalypse: work set hours, then free time. Absurd conditions.
"Doesn't make sense, right? Now you get it? How miraculous it is you entered Shelter Apocalypse? So please, don't cause trouble."
Yun nodded. She hadn't planned any trouble anyway.
"Anyway... I'll drop by tomorrow."
Sophia eyed her, then left the house. Alone, Yun slapped her cheeks in disbelief.
'This is reality, right?'
If a dream, it'd be devastating. And the Shelter E survivors felt the same.
It was the first day the Shelter E survivors integrated into Shelter Apocalypse.
Apocalypse All-Purpose Machine